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.

he drought has caused a number of immature praying mantids to die for lack of food. This is a female female Stagmomantis californica, as identified by Andrew Pfeiffer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Effect of the Drought on Insects

August 28, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The severe California drought--we're in the fourth year--is affecting us all, but it's also affecting insects, says Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis.

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A banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata)--as identified by UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro--waits for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Spider and the Skipper

August 27, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

This is a a story about a spider and a skipper. Technically, a banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) and a fiery skipper butterfly (Hylephila phyleus, family Hesperiida). The garden spider lies in wait, its head down, clinging to its real estate, an enormous sticky web.

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The Sting: A bee stings the wrist of Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen. That's the abdominal tissue trailing. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'The Sting' Revisited

August 26, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Photographers are frustrated, and rightfully so, with all the thievery on the Internet. Like many other photos, "The Sting," is being used illegally for commercial purposes. It's appeared on sites like PhotoBucket where unscrupulous people sell it as canvas prints and holiday cards.

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An Amazing Ant/Millipede Video

August 25, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Deep in the jungles of Cambodia, near the temples of Angkor, an unlikely drama takes place. Blue ants of the genus Leptogenys, native to southeast Asia, surround their prey, a massive millipede. It's almost like circling the wagons in a scene from the Wild West. Or "rodeo-style behavior.

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Pipeline swallowtail on Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

For the Love of Butterflies

August 24, 2015

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

A passion for butterflies coupled with a yearning to protect their habitat is what drives 98-year-old Louise Hallberg, founder of the nine-acre Hallberg Butterfly Gardens in Sebastopol.

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