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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. 

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A bee colony is one of the features in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, west of the UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis Bee Garden to Mark National Pollinator Week

June 8, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's almost time to celebrate! Or cele-bee-ate! In observation of National Pollinator Week, the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology has scheduled an open house at its half-acre bee garden, the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven from 5:30 to 7 p..m., Friday, June 19.
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A Gulf Fritillary butterfly checking out a red flameskimmer dragonfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Right Color, Wrong Species

June 5, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You never know what you'll see in your pollinator garden. That's why it's always a good idea to carry a camera with you, or you might miss a bit of drama. Not in drama queens, but in drama kings.
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Mite on drone pupa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Smell Like a Bee

June 4, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Newly published research by a Michigan State University-led team indicates that one of the reasons why the varroa mite is so destructive is because it infiltrates hives by smelling like a bee. The parasitic mite, or Varroa destructor, is a "blood sucker" that feeds on bees.
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Rei Scampavia with her first-place research poster, “Farming Practices Affect Nest Site Selection of Native Ground Nesting Bees." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Congratulations, Rei!

June 3, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Let's hear it for Rei! Margaret Rei Scampavia, a doctoral candidate who studies with major professors Neal Williams and Edwin Lewis of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, won first place for her research poster at the recent UC Davis Bee Symposium, held in the Robert Mondavi Center for Wine...
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A female long-horned bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, forages on sneezeweed, genus Helenium. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Does Sneezeweed Make You Sneeze?

June 2, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Does sneezeweed make you sneeze? Over at the UC Davis Arboretum GATEway Garden. off First Street in downtown Davis, sneezeweed is blooming and bees and butterflies are all over it. We didn't see any of them "sneezing.
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