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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. 

"It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design," an exhibit in Cruess Hall that explores the connection between insects and people, will be open from noon to 4 p.m. on Feb. 17. The image of bees is the work of Alex Wild. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Get Bugged' at Design Museum on Biodiversity Museum Day

February 14, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's bugged. Yes, it is. When you attend the seventh annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 17 to see 13 museums or collections, be sure to see It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design, an exhibit in Cruess Hall that explores the connection between insects and people.
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This praying mantis, nicknamed "Watermelon," is an adult female Australian rainforest mantis, Hierodula majuscola, part of the collection of UC Davis entomology student Lohit Garikipati. He will display this mantis and others from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 17 at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Meet and Greet 'Watermelon' at the Bohart Museum of Entomology

February 12, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you ever said "Hi" to a watermelon? No? Well, you can "meet and greet" a watermelon at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the seventh annual campuswide Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 17 at the University of California, Davis. But you can't thump it.
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A honey bee nectars on a rosemary blossom on Feb. 9 on the UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Honey Bees Think It's Spring on the UC Davis Campus

February 9, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Spring doesn't "spring" on the University of California, Davis campus. Sometimes it skitters, scampers and scoots. That's in between the cool and warm temperatures that deceive us--and the bees.
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Lynn Kimsey (far right), director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, talks about the history of the insect museum to UC Davis Chancellor Gary May and Dean Helene Dillard (center) of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. In back are Steve Nadler, chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematmology; undergraduate students Emma Cluff and Lohit Garikipati and Nann Fangue, current chair of the Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology Department. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

To Boldly Go, and the Chancellor Did: To an Insect Museum!

February 8, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
To Boldy Go. UC Davis Chancellor Gary May, a Star Trek enthusiast, coined that theme last year when he launched the university's 10-year strategic planning process. It's aimed at bringing together everyone's bold ideas to propel us to accomplish things we've only dreamed of in the past.
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