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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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Praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, waiting for lunch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ms. Mantis Waiting for Lunch

August 13, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
  Bee and butterflies love the patch of Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifola) in our Vacaville garden.For several months now, they've been buzzing and fluttering around the six-to-eight-foot-high plants, sipping nectar and returning for more.  It's a serene place for pollinators except for…
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Turrets of digger bees on sand dunes of Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis: All A'Buzz With Bee Nests and Art

August 12, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Video caption:  This bumble bee mimic, Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana, is a digger bee building her nest in a sand dune on Bodega Head, Sonoma County. (Video by Kathy Keatley Garvey)You won't want to miss this!Create art and learn about native bees and their nests at the same time!UC Davis…
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A queen bee laying eggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Find the Queen!

August 11, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Question: "Can you find the queen? She's in here with the worker bees and drones. The worker bees are the girls and the drones are the boys." Chlld: "What does the queen look like? Is she wearing a crown?""No, she's wearing a number!"Child:"I see her! There she is! I found her!"Finding the queen…
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Honey bee pollinating strawberry. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Introducing Bees to Children

August 8, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 The UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP) staffed three tables at the Vacaville Museum Guild's annual children's party to introduce "the wonderful world of bees" to children ages 3 to 9.CAMBP members displayed a bee observation hive and encouraged them to "find the queen'; answered…
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Chemical ecologist Jeff Aldrich

Impact of Life Work of Jeff Aldrich Continues to Unfold

August 7, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 The impact of the life work of renowned chemical ecologist Jeff Aldrich (1949-2025) continues to unfold.Aldrich, a research entomologist at USDA-ARS from 1980 to 2011, who then worked with UC Davis  Department of Entomology and Nematology researchers for a decade, died June 28 at age 75 in Fort…
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