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.

A variegated meadowhawk dragonfly, Sympetrum corruptum,in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Watching It Like a Hawk

October 5, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Watching it like a hawk... A variegated meadowhawk dragonfly, Sympetrum corruptum, that is. We look forward to breezes--even strong gusts--in our little pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif., because often we'll see dragonflies touch down. They'll hunt, perch, and hunt again.

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A Gulf Fritillary foraging on a lavender passionflower vine, genus Passiflora. This is the Gulf Frits' host plant, they lay their eggs only on Passiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Red Passionflower Vine: Pretty But Poisonous?

October 4, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If want to plant a passionflower vine (Passiflora)--the host plant of Gulf Fritillary butterflies (Agraulis vanillae)--in your garden, go for the species that produce lavender or purple flowers, "not the red ones." That's what we've been told for years.

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Many senior citizens who develop new hobbies (such as rearing monarch butterflies) believe this keeps their brain active and leads to greater enthusiasm for life. Supercentarian Jeanne Calment of France lived to be 122. One of her interests was playing the piano. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Science Café: Ask a Scientist a Question, Such as 'Are There Upper Limits to Human Lifespan?'

October 3, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you've ever wanted to ask a scientist a question, here's your opportunity. Ask away at the Science Caf. This is an informative scientific presentation held the second Wednesday of each month in the G St. Wunderbar, 228 G St., Davis. The scientist delivers a brief talk and then engages the public.

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Honey bees circle a fork-tailed bush katydid feeding on a yellow rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This Katydid Did

October 2, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The katydid, as green as the leaves around it, is feeding on a yellow rose. It is paying no attention to the circling honey bees. The bees want nectar, not an encounter with a critter far bigger than they are. The katydid slowly moves from one devastated blossom to a bud.

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Ms. Mantis, on a redwood stake in a milkweed planter in Vacaville, Calif., is trying to find a place to lay her egg mass, an ootheca. This image was taken Sunday night, Sept. 23. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ooh, an Ootheca!

October 1, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Hide and seek. She hides 'em and we seek 'em. We've spotted as many as seven adult praying mantids at a time in our little pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif., but never once have we seen any of them laying eggs. Until now.

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