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.

Honey Is Not Bee Vomit

October 6, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

For years, uninformed folks have declared that honey is "bee vomit." It's not. These things are inequitably false. 1. The world is flat. 2. Einstein said that "if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left." 3. Honey is bee vomit.

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Entomologist Jeff Smith shows Cassidy Hansen fof Rio Vista how to pin a butterly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How to Pin a Butterfly

October 3, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

How do you pin and spread a butterfly? Entomologist Jeff Smith, an associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, showed everyone from pre-schoolers to adults how to do just that at the Bohart's recent open house. It was all hands-on.

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A honey bee embeds its stinger in the wrist of Eric Mussen and then tries to pull away. Note the abdominal tissue trailing. (This is an actual photo of a bee sting; it was not posed.) (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why Do Honey Bees Die When They Sting

October 2, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"Why do honey bees die when they sting?" That's the question PBS Newshour asked Extension apiculturist (retired) Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology for its "Just Ask" feature.

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Honey bee heading for a Cosmos. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A, B, and C: What They Really Stand for...

October 1, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Give me an "A" (for excellence). Give me a "B" (for bee). Give me a "C" (for Cosmos). Watching honey bees collect nectar and pollen on the showy Cosmos (Cosmos bipannatus) is not to be missed.

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Black hover fly, aka Mexican cactus fly, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hide the Cactus!

September 30, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Hide the cactus! There's a Mexican cactus fly in our midst. A large black fly hovers over a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) in our bee garden and then drops down to sip some nectar. At first glance it looks like a carpenter bee but this one hovers like a syrphid fly, aka flower fly or hover fly.

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