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.

Robbin Thorp with two of the books he co-authored. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Myths and Gifts

November 21, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Myths and gifts... When the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology hosts its open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 23, the theme will be "Insect Myths.

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Rachael Long beneath the Yolo Causeway with a bat detector. Notice the bats in the photo. (Photo courtesy of the California Farm Bureau Federation)

For the Love of Bats

November 20, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Most of us think about bats at least twice a year: during National Pollinator Week, when bees, beetles, butterflies and bats beckon, and on Halloween, when bats mingle with the witches, ghosts, ghouls, goblins and other things that go bump in the night. Bats are pollinators? Definitely.

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"Wild Bee Gardens" is the first known conservation app for North American native bees

Remembering the Wild Bees

November 19, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Native bee enthusiast Celeste Ets-Hokin of the Bay Area is on a mission: she wants residents to provide habitat for wild bees, including bumble bees, sweat bees, miner bees, mason bees, digger bees and long-horned bees.

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Gulf Fritillary butterfly on Cosmos. One myth is that if you rub the scales off their wings (who would want to?), they can't fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum Open House: Insect Myths!

November 18, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

How many insect myths do you know? Worker bees are males, right? Butterflies and moths can't fly if you rub the scales off their wings, right? Earwigs crawl into your ears and then into your brain, right? Wrong. They're all widely known but falsely held beliefs.

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Worker bes cleaning out queen cells. Honey bee presentations will be part of the ICE program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

ICE Is Red-Hot!

November 17, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You've heard folks say "cold as ice," right? Well, ICE is red hot. The International Congress of Entomology (ICE) is gearing up for its 2016 conference, "Entomology without Borders," to take place Sept. 25-30, 2016 in Orlando, Fla.

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