Bug Squad Logo

Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

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. 

Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) on Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It Suits Them to a 'T'

July 29, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It suits them to a "T." And the "T" is for Tithonia. Many species of butterflies frequent our Tithonia, also known as Mexican sunflower. Like its name implies, it's a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae.
View Article
McCormack Hall assistant superintendent Sharon Payne of Vallejo, a past president of the Solano County 4-H Leaders' Council, stands next to youth photography featuring insects. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Meet Me at the Fair!

July 28, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
County fairs are filled with fun, food and festivities. They're meant to educate, inform and entertain. What we've always loved about the county fairs: the incredible exhibits. Especially exhibits dealing with photographs and paintings of insects.
View Article
Three's company! Three juvenile Cooper's hawks, as identified by Andrew Engilis, Jr. curator of the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology,cooling off in an urban birdbath in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why Influx of Caterpillars Linked to Hawks

July 24, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." --John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra Muir said it well.
View Article
Moth Night at the Bohart Museum of Entomology was the first-ever evening open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Oh, What a (Moth) Night!

July 23, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Oh, what a (moth) night! Saturday, July 18 marked the beginning of National Moth Week and the Bohart Museum of Entomology obliged with an indoor and outdoor open house, its first-ever evening open house. The event took place from 8 to 11 p.m.
View Article
Subscribe