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.

A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus with a thick load of resin on her thorax. She had just visited a nototribic flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Word of the Day: Nototribic

April 11, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The black-tailed bumble bee wasn't flying very well. You wouldn't, either, if you were trying to fly with a backpack on your back. Except this wasn't a backpack but sticky pollen.

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A pollen-laded yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, buzzes toward a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Bumble Bee on Mustard in the Golden State

April 10, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What's better than a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) on yellow mustard? Not much. Both are signs of early spring. Mustard is popping up all over, along with oxalyis and wild radish. The earth is warming. Spring is here. Get ready.

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Hoang Danh "Derrick" Nguyen, who is studying for his master's degree in entomology, is shown here sampling insects from strawerry plants. (Photo by Christian Nansen)

Living on the Edge

April 9, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Congratulations to Hoang Danh Derrick Nguyen, a graduate student in the Christian Nansen lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, for his recent publication in the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development.

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Honey bees love ceanothus, a plant that will be offered at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Saturday, April 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and at the UC Davis Arboretum Plant Nursery sale on April 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Rain Won't Cancel Open House, Plant Sale at UC Davis Bee Garden

April 6, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Think spring. Think ceanothus. Think salvia. Think pollinators. Despite the rain forecast, the open house and plant sale at the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the University of California, Davis, will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, April 7.

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Booklice, Liposcelis bostrychophila, in cornmeal. This image was taken with a Canon MPE-65mm lens. The bugs are five times their life size. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yes, You Do Eat Insects!

April 5, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Yes, you do eat insects! Maybe not deliberately, as in those who engage in entomophagy, the technical term for eating insects. Think of chocolate chirp cookies! Think of cricket flour! Think of making a meal out of mealworms.

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