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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

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. 

Oleander aphids clustering on a milkweed stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Enemy of the Gardener

September 28, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Aphids, don't you just hate them? Especially those oleander aphids that suck the very lifeblood out of our milkweed plants that we're struggling to save for monarch butterflies. Just call aphids "The Enemy of the Gardener" or "The Enemy of the Milkweed.
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This quilted wall hanging of dragonflies is the work of quiltmaker and seamstress Ann Babicky of Schofield, Wis. Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the butterfly and moth specimens in the Bohart, loaned it for the open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Crafty Time at the Bohart Museum of Entomology

September 26, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Five quilted dragonflies skimming the wall. Eager hands cradling an orchid mantis. Eyes darting toward a hornet's nest. That set the scene at the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology's three-hour open house, themed "Crafty Insects.
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The Asian citrus psyllid, about the size of an aphid, is a major threat to the multibillion dollar citrus industry in the United States.(Photo courtesy of the California Department of Food and Agriculture)

Targeting the Asian Citrus Psyllid

September 25, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
While you're peeling and segmenting your orange at breakfast or spooning orange honey on your toast, you're probably not thinking about the Asian citrus psyllid.
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Entomologist Joel Hernandez adds the finishing touches on a rock painted by his wife, Melissa Cruz, the outreach coordinator for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why the Bohart Museum of Entomology Rocks!

September 24, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, rocks! Directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis professor of entomology, the insect museum is named for noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart.
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