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.

This is part of the trilogy of wall pieces created by artist Ann Savageau, professor emerita, UC Davis Department of Design. Her materials: hornet nest paper.

This Artist Works with Hornet Nest Paper

January 5, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Most people avoid a hornet's nest. Not environmental artist Ann Savageau; the retired UC Davis Department of Design professor creates art from hornet nest paper. "I began using hornet nest paper back in Ann Arbor, Mich.

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This image of honey bees by Alex Wild will be part of the Jan. 8-April 22 exhibition, "It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design," and also will be featured at the Bohart Museum open house on Jan. 21. See alexanderwild.com for more of his photos. (Image copyrighted by Alex Wild and used with permission)

A UC Davis Exhibition: Exploring the Relationship Between People and Insects

January 4, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Insects as art! The shapes, the colors...Bees, beetles, butterflies... Capture images of the bees, create sculptures from beetle galleries, and depict insect motifs on clothing... Don't miss the unique exhibition, It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design, set Jan.

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The Asian Citrus Psyllid Team: Scientists in the front row (from left) are Tatiana Mulinari, Rodrigo Magnani, Antonio Juliano Ayres, Walter Leal, Marcelo Miranda, Victoria Esperanca, Odimar Zanardi, and Rejane Luvizotto. The three scientists in back are Haroldo X. L. Volpe (white shirt) Renato de Freitas and Rômulo Carvalho.

Targeting the Asian Citrus Psyllid

January 3, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

A major citrus pest may experience a Bah, Humbug! kind of year.

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A yellow-faced bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on rosemary at the Benicia Marina on New Year's Day, 2018. Note the orange pollen, derived from another floral species, probably California golden poppies. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Foraging Bumble Bees: Check Out the Orange Pollen

January 2, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Bring on the bumble bees! In yesterday's Bug Squad blog, we mentioned the unusual first-of-the-year bumble bee sightings at the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. We captured images of the yellow-faced bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on jade, Crassula ovata, the morning of Jan.

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A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, forages on New Year's Day, 2017, on jade at the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Celebrating the New Year with Bumble Bees in Benicia

January 1, 2018

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

While folks from Alaska to Colorado to New York to Maine are shivering in freezing temperatures, here in sunny California--well, at least parts of the Golden State are sunny--bumble bees are foraging on winter blooms. Bumble bees? On the first day of the year? Yes.

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