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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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This dead honey bee with a load of pollen was among dozens found outside the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts on the UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Super Sleuth' Solves the Mystery of the Dead Bees

January 19, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
What's killing the honey bees? The email arrived in my UC Davis inbox at 9:10 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 8. An employee from the UC Davis Plumbing Shop wondered what was happening in front of the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts on the UC Davis campus.
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A male monarch nectaring Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Real Skinny on Migrating Monarchs, Milkweed

January 16, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A recent article in Science magazine, headlined Plan to Save Monarch Butterflies Backfires, is getting a lot of attention. And UC Davis butterfly expert Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, is getting a lot of inquiries.
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Katharina Ullmann, who just received her doctorate in entomology from UC Davis and is now a pollinator conservation specialist for the Xerces Society, is co-coordinator of the workshop. (Photo by Neal Williams)

All About Crop Pollination

January 15, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
What's stressing our honey bees and how are they impacted? You'll learn more about honey bees if you attend the Crop Pollination Workshop next month.
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Today Art Shapiro looked for a cabbage white butterfly along Gates Canyon Road, Vacaville, but didn't find it. The photo is from one of his 2014 field trips up Gates Canyon Road. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Have You Seen Me?

January 14, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you seen me? Me, being a cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae)? No? No one else has, either. Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, is looking and waiting.
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Robbin Thorp with two books he co-authored in 2014. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Congratulations, Robbin Thorp!

January 13, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You may have heard that native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, will give a presentation on native bees at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24 at Solano County's Rush Ranch Nature Center, Suisun City.
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