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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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Drone fly, Eristalis tenax, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Fly Is a Fly Is a Fly

October 20, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A bee is a bee is a bee is a bee. 'Cept when it's a fly. Lately we've been seeing lots of images on social media (including Facebook and Twitter), news media websites, and stock photo sites of "honey bees." But they're actually flies.
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Close-up of a tagged Monarch butterfly. (Photo by David James, entomologist at Washington State University, Pullman, Wash.)

Have You Seen Me? A Tagged Monarch?

October 17, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The next time you see a Monarch butterfly heading your way--or settled in at an overwintering site in coastal California or in central Mexico--check to see if it's tagged.
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Michael "Kim" Fondrk of UC Davis tends Robert Page's bees in a Dixon, Calif. almond orchard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee BMP: 'A' for Communication

October 16, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Can you say "Bee BMP?" That's a short-cut for "Bee Best Management Practices." The Almond Board of California today unveiled its long-awaited "Honey Bee Best Management Practices for California Almonds.
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Honey bee pollinating an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey

Best Management Practices for Honey Bees

October 15, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Almond Board of California will unveil its Honey Bee Best Management Practices tomorrow (Thursday, Oct. 16) in an ongoing effort to promote and protect bee health. The board will do so by holding a press conference at 8:30 a.m.
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A male Monarch nectaring on Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Go West, Young Monarch, Go West!

October 14, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Westward, ho! The western migration of the Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) to their overwintering sites along the California coast is underway.
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