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.

A golden honey bee (Cordovan of the Italian subspecies) nectaring lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey! I Hardly Know You!

August 1, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Every time I see a golden jar of honey, I'm reminded of the Cordovan bee (Italian subspecies) that visited the Garvey bee garden back in 2010. I managed to capture a photo of her and labeled the image "Golden Bee Nectaring on Lavender," because that's what she was doing. Nectaring on lavender.

View Article

A praying mantis eyes the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Please Don't Eat the Pollinators!

July 31, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If I were in charge of a praying mantis' daily diet, I would enforce one stringent rule: "Please don't eat the pollinators! Do not, I repeat, target the bees or butterflies.

View Article

McCormack Hall superintendent Gloria Gonzalez hangs "Butterfly Lovers" by Tina Waycie of Vallejo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Winged Affair

July 30, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Say the word wings to folks who attend fairs and festivals and they may think of something to eat--buffalo wings or chicken wings. But if you head over to McCormack Hall at the Solano County Fair, Vallejo, you'll be thinking of insect flight. Flight of butterflies and moths.

View Article

This photo of former UC Davis visiting bee scientist Jakub Gabka of Poland won the gold award for best feature photo, presented recently by international Association for Communication Excellence. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Bee Beard Like No Other

July 29, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Bee scientists, beekeepers and bee photographers so love their bees that they can't get enough of them.

View Article

Male longhorned bees jockeying for position on a guara stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

About Those Sleepovers...

July 28, 2014

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

We're receiving lots of inquiries about sleepovers ever since we began posting images of male longhorned bees, Melissodes agilis, sleeping on our lavender. Boys' Night Out! While the females sleep in their underground nests, the males cluster on stems.

View Article