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.

How to Make an Insect Collection

October 1, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's that time of year again. Teachers ask their students to make an insect collection. The project is considered a "rite of passage." However, often the students--whether they be middle school, high school or college level--don't know where to begin.

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A praying mantis nails a monarch butterfly on a butterfly bush. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey(

To Kill a Monarch

September 30, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's a sin to kill a mockingbird, wrote Pulitzer Prize-winning author Harper Lee in her classic novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird." "Mockingbirds don't do one thing except make music for us to enjoy," one of her characters, Miss Maudie, wisely observed.

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Two Gulf Fritillaries doing what comes naturally. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Privacy, Please!

September 29, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Privacy, please! You're walking by a patch of lavender and Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) and you notice that two Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) are doing what birds 'n' bees 'n butterflies do. Well, some folks call it "bug porn" and some call it a "two-for" images--two insects in one photo.

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Female mosquito, Aedes aegypti, also known as "the dengue mosquito," drawing a blood meal. (Photo by James Gathany. United States Department of Health and Human Services)

ICE-ing on the Cake!

September 28, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What a nice move! Especially since the United States is busily restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba. Think entomology. Think ICE. Think ICE'ing on the cake. Think ICE'ing on an entomological cake.

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A viable bee hive is a new addition in the bee garden, which was planted in the fall of 2009.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Bee' There Oct. 2 In the Bee Garden

September 25, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Mark your calendar! The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology has scheduled a fall open house, the last of the season, at its Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Friday, Oct. 2 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. It's free and open to the public.

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