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.

A Honey of a Day--And It Gets Better!

August 18, 2017

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Saturday, Aug. 19 promises to be a honey of a day--in more ways than one! And it gets better! It's National Honey Bee Day or National Honey Bee Awareness Day, launched in 2009 by newly appointed U.S.

View Article

Top-Bar Beekeeping Advocate Les Crowder to Speak at WAS Conference at UC Davis

August 17, 2017

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Are top-bar beekeeping hives for you? What are their advantages and disadvantages as compared to the traditional Langstroth hives?

View Article

A Fly, Oh, My!

August 16, 2017

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

A fly, oh, my! On the approval scale, they don't rank nearly as high as honey bees, but some are often mistaken for them. Take the Eristalis stipator, which belongs to the family Syrphidae, the hover flies. It's about the same size as a honey bee and it's a pollinator.

View Article

Gene Brandi, Speaker at WAS Conference: Managing Honey Bees in California

August 15, 2017

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Varroa mites--considered the No. 1 enemy of beekeepers--will be among the topics discussed when Gene Brandi of Los Banos, Calif., president of the American Beekeeping Federation, speaks at the 40th annual conference of the Western Apicultural Society, to be held Sept.

View Article

Getting Steak and Dessert at the Same Time

August 14, 2017

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Monarch butterflies aren't the only insects that hang around milkweed, their host plant. You're likely to see a variety of predators, such as the European paper wasp, Polistes dominula.

View Article