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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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Chemical ecologist Jeffrey Aldrich working in Japan in the lab of Walter Leal. (Photo by Walter Leal)

The Incredible Life of Chemical Ecologist Jeffrey Richard Aldrich

August 6, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Tributes are pouring in for renowned chemical ecologist Jeffrey Richard Aldrich (1949-2025), a longtime researcher at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center,  USDA Agricultural Research Service, who retired in 2011 and then worked with UC Davis researchers for a decade.Aldrich was considered…
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Western yellowjacket in Marin County. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Beware of Yellowjacket Nests

August 5, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Beware of yellowjacket nests in our state parks--and elsewhere, as well!Self-described "Wasp Woman" UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Lynn Kimsey who directed the Bohart Museum of Entomology for 34 years until her retirement last year, continues to field many a question about insects, including…
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Spotted wing drosophila on raspberry. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Joanna Chiu, Scientist Extraordinaire

August 4, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 "From the first minute I joined her lab, I noticed how she always provides a healthy environment to foster the discussion of scientific ideas, respecting and valuing everyone’s point of view. I was amazed to see that this does not stop with her lab, but it extends far beyond. Joanna has devoted her…
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Jeff Smith spreading wings of a moth. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How Tiny Is This Moth?

August 1, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 What a tiny moth!Jeff Smith, volunteer curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, for three decades, has just spread the wings of a micro-moth with a wingspan (both wings open) measured at about 1 centimeter.And it is not only tiny,…
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A longhorned bee on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Rise Early to Greet a Male Longhorned Bee

July 29, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 How can you capture a close-up image of a male longhorned bee, such as Melissodes agilis or Svastra  obliqua expurgata?Before the sun rises, slip out into the patch of flowers where you've seen them before. They will be sleeping or slighty stirring. (The females return to their nests at night,…
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