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.

The Flight of the Bumble Bee

August 5, 2016

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Every time we see a pollen-packing bumble bee take flight, we think of the 300,000-pound Spruce Goose, which was never flight-worthy (well, except for its brief flight on Nov. 2, 1947).

View Article

So, You Want to Become a Beekeeper...

August 4, 2016

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So you want to become a beekeeper... You want to do your part to help the declining bee population. You want to learn about the honey bees that pollinate the food you eat, including fruits, vegetables and nuts (especially almonds!). You'd love some honey for your table and some wax to make candles.

View Article

Drama in the Pollinator Patch

August 3, 2016

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So here's this newly eclosed male monarch trying to sip a little nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). A female longhorned bee, probably Melissodes agilis, seeks to claim it. There's no such thing as sharing, especially when nectar is at stake and it's first-come, first-served.

View Article

Where You Can Learn All About Bees and Beekeeping

August 2, 2016

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you're a beekeeper or plan to become a beekeeper, you need to read the UC Davis Apiculture Newsletter, the work of Extension apiculturist Elina Nio and her associates at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, aka the UC Davis Bee Biology Facility.

View Article

It Happens: Nature Isn't Perfect

August 1, 2016

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you engage in a mini-monarch conservation project, you know the joy of watching the egg-caterpillar-chrysalis-adult transformation. It's one of Nature's miracles.

View Article