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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. 

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Syrphid fly on blanketflower, Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum Announces Open Houses

August 29, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Bees and their mimics and eight-legged encounters (spiders) will be among the themes at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open houses for the 2025-26 academic year.Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart Museum, part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology,…
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"Art of Death" exhibit at Vacaville Museum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Bugs Beckon at Vacaville Museum's Exhibit

August 28, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Quick question: Have you visited the Vacaville Museum's incredible gallery exhibit, "The Art of Death?" If so, did you peruse the insect displays from the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis?Frankly, there's so much to see and learn about "The Art of Death"--which runs through Nov. 15--that you…
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Assorted micro-moths that Jeff Smith has curated. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This Super-Tiny Fairy Longhorn Moth Has Quite a History

August 27, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 If you're accustomed to seeing large moths with a 10-inch wingspan, you won't believe this micro moth.Entomologist Jeff Smith, volunteer curator of the prized Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, has just curated a metallic Papua New Guinea (PNG) moth with a 1.4…
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Crab spider nails a hoverfly, a yellowjacket mimic. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Disguise Didn't Work

August 26, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 If you look like a yellowjacket but you’re really a fly, that doesn’t mean a predator can’t grab you and eat you.Take the case of a crab spider lying in wait on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. Our very alert spider knows exactly where to practice its ambushing…
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Microscopes from the California Master Beekeeper Program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Addison to the Bee: 'Be Safe'

August 25, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 When the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP) interacts with children at various events, they hope to make a difference.At the Vacaville Museum Guild's annual Children's Party. held recently in the Vacaville Museum on Buck Avenue, Vacaville, they did just that.We just received a…
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