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.

Who Doesn't Pine for Plants? And Pollinators!

November 3, 2017

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Who doesn't pine for plants? And pollinators? The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden is sponsoring its annual fall clearance plant sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 4 at its Arboretum Teaching Nursery headquarters on Garrod Drive, UC Davis campus.

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Congratulations, ESA Winner Kelly Hamby!

November 2, 2017

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Congratulations, UC Davis alumna Kelly Hamby! Hamby, an assistant professor and extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at the University of Maryland-College Park, will receive the Early Career Professional (ECP) Extension Award during the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of...

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Bugs at the Bohart? Yes, and Bernie and a Hot Dog, Too!

November 1, 2017

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Entomologists don't always dress as predators or prey at their Halloween parties. Sure, they're known for donning butterfly, bee, and black widow spider costumes. But sometimes they opt to characterize a scarecrow, a rag doll, a police officer, a pirate, Bernie Sanders and a hot dog.

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A Piñata That Only Entomologists Could Love

October 31, 2017

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Have you ever hit a piata? Hit it and smashed it to smithereens? It was probably a Fiesta-ish piata--maybe a colorful unicorn, donkey, or pony, right? Bet it wasn't a fly. And bet it wasn't a fly from the genus Acrocera and family Acroceridae.

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Not a Good Time to Be a Monarch Caterpillar

October 30, 2017

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Migrating monarchs are fluttering daily into our yard in Vacaville, Calif., one by one, two by two, three by three, and four by four, for a little flight fuel. They're sipping nectar from the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, and tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.

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