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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. 

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The live "petting zoo" is a popular place at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. This is a black velvet walking stick with red wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum Open Houses: Aug. 19 and Sept. 22

August 2, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Mark your calendar! You won't want to miss the summer weekend open houses at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane. Both are free, open to the public and family friendly.
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A tattered, torn and tired monarch nectars on a salvia in the Kate Frey Pollinator Garden at Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Tattered, Torn and Tired Monarch

August 1, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
First monarch butterfly sighting of the year. A tattered and torn monarch--a male (as identified by Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis) fluttered into the Kate Frey Pollinator Garden at Sonoma Cornerstone last Sunday and landed on a salvia.
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A "very gravid" female Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) nectars on a butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Beauty of a Western Tiger Swallowtail

July 27, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
One of the joys of planting a pollinator garden is watching majestic butterflies flutter in and sip a little nectar. Today a Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) took a liking to a butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) in our Vacaville garden.
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