Bug Squad

Welcome to the Bug Squad blog! The Bug Squad blog was launched Aug. 6, 2008 and is a daily blog (Monday through Friday). It showcases entomologists and the work they do. The blog focuses on scientists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the UC Davis Bee Haven, and assorted campuswide events, including UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Bohart Museum open houses. The blog spotlights insects, including bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and praying mantises, as well as arachnids such as jumping spiders and crab spiders. Author and photographer is Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a longtime journalist and community scientist with two degrees from Washington State University. She is a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). Her blog posts and images have won international awards from ACE and ESA and appeared on journal and magazine covers. She shoots primarily with a Nikon Z-8 mirrorless camera, a Nikon D500 and Nikon 800, with assorted macro lenses. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet.

Henrietta, our Stagmomantis limbata praying mantis, lies in wait on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia.) (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Henrietta and the Drone Fly: The Predator and the Prey

November 8, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Henrietta, our Stagmomantis limbata praying mantis, perches on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). She is as patient as she is persistent. The drone fly, aka syrphid and also known as a hover fly or flower fly, makes the fatal mistake of touching down on the same blossom. Henrietta eyes it hungrily.

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Henrietta, a Stagmomantis limbata, hanging out in a patch of Mexican sunflowers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Henrietta and the Ootheca

November 7, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Talk about the unexpected. Look! says Jim. He pauses by the kitchen counter. "Over there! he says, pointing. I don't see anything except the half-filled coffee pot. Then I see it. "There," as in over there, is a praying mantis clinging to the wall and staring at us.

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This mosquito, Aedes aegypti (infected mosqutoes can transmit such diseases as dengue and the Zika virus) will be the focus of Lark Coffey's seminar at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 7 in 122 Briggs Hall, UC Davis. (Photo by James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control)

Zeroing in on the Zika Virus

November 6, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you're interested in Zika virus research, you'll want to attend Lark Coffey's seminar on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 4:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall, University of California, Davis.

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The syrphid fly tries to seek some nectar, but the Gulf Fritillary proclaims "This Mexican sunflower is occupied." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Frit and the Fly: Who Wins?

November 5, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The Frit and the fly...or the butterfly and the fly... That would be the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) and the syrphid fly (family Syrphidae), aka flower fly or hover fly. They meet on a beautiful autumn day on an equally beautiful Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia).

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These three graduate students in the Phil Ward lab at UC Davis are among the members of the UC Berkeley-UC Davis Linnaean Games Team. From left are Zachary Griebenow, Jill Oberski and Brendon Boudinot. Boudinot, president of the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association, was a member of both the UC Davis national championship teams in 2015 and 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Insects and Graduate Students Share Spotlight at Linnaean Games

November 2, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Where are you most likely to encounter a rheophilic insect? If you know the answer to that, you could have scored at the Linnaean Games competition at the recent meeting of the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA). The answer: "In moving streams.

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