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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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A young girl searches for bees amid the blossoms of the California native plant, Brandegee's sage (Salvia brandegeei) (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Heaven in the Bee Haven

February 20, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was heaven in the bee haven. As temperatures climbed into the seventies last Saturday, honey bees foraged in the California native plant, Brandegee's sage (Salvia brandegeei). and pollinated the almond blossoms. It seemed like spring.
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UC Davis student Diego Rivera shows a Madagascar hissing cockroach. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Who Doesn't Love Bugs?

February 20, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Raise your hands! How many of you love bugs? If you had asked that question at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house at the seventh annual Biodiversity Museum Day last Saturday at the University of California, Davis, the Yellow Shirts would have been proud.
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Professors Dave Wyatt and Fran Keller in Belize on their collection trip. They will be showing some of their insect specimens Saturday, Feb. 17 at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the campuswide Biodiversity Museum Day. (Photo courtesy of Fran Keller)

Bugs from Belize in the Bohart

February 16, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Talk about alliteration. "Bugs from Belize in the Bohart." It doesn't get any more bugly than that. That would be the exhibit at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. It's part of the seventh annual Biodiversity Museum Day, an all-day event set from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Feb.
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