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.

Pipevine swallowtails at the UC Davis Arboretum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's Pollinator Discovery Day Sunday at UC Davis

May 18, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Meet the pollinators, And meet the UC Davis researchers, UC Master Gardeners, students and community members who study them or promote them. That's what's planned on Sunday, May 20 at an event sponsored by the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden and the UC Master Gardeners from 1 to 4 p.m.

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Large crowds gathered around Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño as she opened a bee hive at the California Honey Festival and talked about bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bee Tent at the California Honey Festival Was All the Buzz

May 17, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you attended the second annual California Honey Festival, held recently in downtown Woodland, you probably heard the buzz. Or at least you saw the crowd circling Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Nio of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

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UC Davis doctoral student and mosquito researcher Olivia Winokur checks on mosquitoes in the walk-in chamber in the insectary. The chamber is set to 26 Celsius and 80 percent humidity to mimic tropical conditions. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The World of Olivia Winokur

May 16, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a UC Davis doctoral student researching mosquitoes? Meet Olivia Winokur, an enthusiastic, dedicated and multi-talented medical entomologist whose childhood curiosity about a yellow fever vaccination sparked her interest in 'skeeters.

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Wearing Bohart Museum of Entomology t-shirts are (seated) UC Davis student Wade Spencer (left) and senior museum scientist Steve Heydon. In back are UC Davis students and Bohart associates Eliza Litsey, Parras McGrath, Lohit Garikipati, and Brennen Dyer. Spencer, Litsey, Garikipiati and Dyer are all UC Davis students. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Oh, the Bugs You'll See at the Bohart: Giant T-Shirt Sale

May 15, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

They'll give you the shirt off their back. Well, not quite, but you can buy a shirt off their rack! The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, has discounted all of its bug-themed t-shirts in its year-around gift shop.

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Dorsal view of a black saddlebags (Tramea lacerata) dragonfly warming her flight muscles. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ms. Black Saddlebags Dragonfly Pays a Visit

May 14, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So there she was, flattened out on the patio on Mother's Day, and barely moving. Vito, our curious canine, paused, sniffed, and then walked away. He was not at all interested. But I was.

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