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.

Shaun Winterton of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, an associate of the Bohart Museum, collected this stiletto fly, genus Agapophytus, and photographed it. It now needs a name. (Shaun Winterton Photo)

The Perfect Gift

December 8, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So you're thinking about a holiday gift for someone who has everything. You've racked your brain trying to think of the perfect gift. Nothing. You can think of nothing. Nothing is not good. Nothing can get you in big trouble. VERY. BIG. TROUBLE.

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A monarch and a honey bee sharing a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Monitoring the Monarchs

December 5, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Like the migratory animals that he studies, Hugh Dingle, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, is on the move.

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Honey bee pollinating an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's Crunch Time: Almond Conference Dec. 9-11

December 4, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's crunch time. Officials organizing the 42nd annual Almond Conference are gearing up for their three-day event, which takes place Tuesday, Dec. 9 through Thursday, Dec. 11 in the Sacramento Convention Center.

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Diane Ullman looking over students' work. The colorful bee boxes were then moved over to the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology operates the garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Diane Ullman: An Honor Well Deserved

December 3, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

An honor well deserved. Diane Ullman, professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, is known for her innovative, multidisciplinary teaching strategies that connect science and art programs.

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Retired marine fisheries specialist Chris DeWees fuses art with science.

Mayflies, Fish and the Fusion of Art and Science

December 2, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

This week while searching through backyard photos, I came across a mayfly I photographed on July 1, 2012 on our flowering artichoke. It looked like a little ol' man skiing through a purple landscape of spiked petals.

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