Bug Squad Logo

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. 

Primary Image
A male mountain carpenter bee, Xyclocopa tabaniformis orpifex, nectaring on Spanish lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Here Come the Carpenter Bees!

March 30, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's spring and it's loud in the Spanish lavender patch. The girls--the honey bees--are buzzing furiously as they forage among the blossoms, but so are the boys, in this case the mountain carpenter bee, Xyclocopa tabaniformis orpifex.
View Article
Primary Image
Honey bee nectaring on an aster. Many asters will be for sale at UC Davis on Saturday, April 7. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why UC Davis Is the Place to 'Bee' on April 7

March 29, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The University of California, Davis, is the place to "bee" on Saturday, April 7. There's a plant sale at the UC Davis Arboretum Nursery on Garrod Drive from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and there's an open house and plant sale at the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Bee Biology Road.
View Article
Primary Image
The alfalfa looper moth, Autographa californica, nectaring on mustard blossoms in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

In the Loop--on the Mustard

March 27, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ever seen this mottled brownish/blackish/grayish moth around lately? The alfalfa looper moth, Autographa californica?
View Article
Primary Image
A male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, nectars on a a mustard blossom in Vacaville, Calif. on Sunday, March 25. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Boys Are Back in Town

March 26, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The boys are back in town! Well, at least one is. We don't know where the girls are. Neither, apparently, does he. A male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, aka "the teddy bear bee," buzzed into our mustard patch Sunday and nectared on the blossoms for about 10 minutes.
View Article