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. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet.

Walter Leal: An Entomologist Without Borders

October 12, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Professor Walter Leal of the University of California, Davis, is co-chairing the 2016 International Congress of Entomology (ICE) conference, themed "Entomology Without Borders," to be held Sept. 25-30 in Orlando, Fla. Some 7000 entomologists from all over the world are expected to attend.

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A monarch lands on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) in Vacaville, Calif. It may head to an overwintering site in Santa Cruz. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Welcome Back, Monarchs!

October 9, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It will be a monarch-kind of day. And why not? Monarch enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting the "Welcome Back Monarchs Day" on Sunday, Oct. 11 at the Natural Bridges State Park, 2531 West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz.

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Helene Dillard, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, welcomes the crowd at the Oct. 2nd college celebration honoring recipients of the Award of Distinction. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Congratulations, 'Bugman' Jeff!

October 8, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Entomologist Jeff Smith of Rocklin, an associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology who has saved the museum some $160,000 over a 27-year period through his volunteer service, received a well deserved "Friend of the College Award of Distinction from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environme...

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A bee fly, genus Villa, collecting pollen on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why Flies Are Pollinators, Too!

October 7, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Will all the pollinators please stand up! Or do a fly-by like the Blue Angels or a crawl-by like babies competing in a diaper derby. Bees--there are more than 4000 of them in North America--are the main pollinators, but don't overlook butterflies, beetles, birds, bats and moths. And flies.

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A lady beetle munching on an aphid while another aphid (far right) looks on. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Aphid Eater

October 6, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The circle of life... Monarch caterpillars feast on milkweed, their host plant. Oleander aphids feast on the juices of milkweed plants. Lady beetles, better known as ladybugs (but they're beetles, not bugs) feast on the aphids. The milkweed is the only plant that the monarch caterpillars eat.

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