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.

What's Better than Sighting a Bumble Bee?

July 1, 2016

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What's better than sighting a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii? Well, a newly emerged Bombus vosnesenskii queen. On the last day of June, we spotted this fresh queen-looking foraging on our blanket flower (Gaillardia).

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The Eighth Wonder of the World

June 30, 2016

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's time to add an eighth wonder to the Seven Wonders of the (Ancient) World: a feral honey bee colony. One with exposed comb.

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Miracles Do Happen

June 29, 2016

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

For the last several months, we've seen monarchs laying eggs on our narrow-leafed milkweed. A daily check yielded "zero" caterpillars. Zero. Nada. Zilch. One reason is apparent: two nearby nests of Western scrub jays filled with chirping babies.

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It's Mine; Not Yours!

June 28, 2016

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So here's this hungry male monarch butterfly sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia "Torch"). He's sipping, sipping, sipping. He's minding his own business. He's tending to his own needs. It's a good day in the pollinator garden.

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Pitch It, Plant It, Grow It

June 27, 2016

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What a great idea! The Horticulture Innovation Lab Demonstration Center on the UC Davis campus is spearheading a "Pitch & Plant Gardening Contest." They're looking for folks to (1) pitch an idea for a raised bed and (2) plant it and nurture it from summer into fall.

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