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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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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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Monarch butterfly fluttering by a garden owl. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What a Hoot!

July 29, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Several years ago, a friend gifted us with some garden art, an owl. Its head does not rotate. Its wings do not move.  It does not scare away birds or squirrels. It does not scare away butterflies, either.Last week a monarch fluttered in our pollinator garden and quickly spotted a milkweed…
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Insect Pavilion at California State Fair. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Getting Acquainted with Insects at the California State Fair

July 29, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
   UC Davis alumnus and "entomology ambassaor"Jakob Lopez, who receivewd his bachelor's degree in animal biology in June, drew the rapt attention of fairgoers at the California State Fair's Insect Pavilion, sponsored by the State Fair, California Department of Agriculture, and the Bohart…
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Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hold That Tiger!

July 28, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Hold that tiger!When a Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, glides into your yard, it's the next best thing to a monarch. This one took a liking to the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, guareded by male long-horned bees. Very territorial.UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus Art…
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