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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. 

A wind-swept meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum, perches on a fence post after feasting on prey on July 1, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. This was taken just after sunrise with a 200mm macro lens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Dragonflies En Masse

July 11, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
So there they were, literally dozens of dragonflies flying around two separate Vacaville (Calif.) yards, feasting on swirling clouds of prey (gnatlike insects) and then touching down on blades of grass or fence posts. They proved as elusive as a celebrities attempting to avoid a paparazzi.
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Brothers Craig and Lee Hazeltine recently honored Bill Hazeltine Research Award recipients Olivia Winokur and Maribel "Mimi" Portilla at a luncheon. UC Davis medical entomologist Geoffrey Attardo, assistant professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology, joined them. From left are Geoffrey Attardo, Craig Hazeltine, Lee Hazeltine and Maribel Portilla. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Work of William Hazeltine II Lives On

July 10, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The late medical entomologist William Emery Hazeltine II (1926-1994) worked tirelessly in mosquito research and public health. Thanks to the generosity of his family, his work is continuing through memorial research grants to outstanding graduate students at the University of California, Davis.
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A crabronid wasp or beewolf foraging on a pineapple sea lily (Eryngium horridum) at the Morningsun Herb Farm, Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why Beauty Is in the Eye of the Bee-Holder

July 9, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Irish novelist Margaret Wolfe Hungerford was right. In Molly Bawn, published in 1878, Hungerford wrote "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," meaning that our perception of beauty is subjective. Beauty is also in the eye of the bee-holder, that is, a predator that "holds" bees.
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Scene One: UC Davis undergraduate student Andrew Kisin of the Aldrin Gomes lab, charges toward distinguished professor Bruce Hammock. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A UC Davis Soakfest That's 15 Minutes of Aim

July 6, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Take one distinguished professor and one undergraduate student. Be sure it's a warm summer day. Then just add water. What do you get? An epic battle during the 15th annual Bruce Hammock Lab Water Balloon Battle on the Briggs Hall lawn at the University of California, Davis.
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