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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. 

A fiery skipper and a damselfly sharing the same spot: an artichoke leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Soaking Up Sunshine

June 23, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
In the entomological world, we call that a "two-fer." Two insects in the same photo. Sunday morning we spotted a fiery skipper butterfly (Hylephila phyleus) on an artichoke leaf. It was warming its flight muscles, maybe to flutter over to the lavender for a sip of nectar.
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A honey bee pollinating an apple blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An Apple from Your Pollinator

June 20, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but thankfully, they don't keep our bees away. The blossoms, that is. We need those pollinators! During National Pollinator Week, June 16-22, it's a good idea to pay tribute to the apple.
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Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) spreads its wings on a purple coneflower(Echinacea purpurea) (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Colors of Pollinator Week

June 19, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
As we near the end of celebrating National Pollinator Week, June 16-22, look around and see all the insects foraging on reddish-orange flowers. And occasionally, you might see a reddish-orange insect like the showy Gulf Fritillary butterfly.
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Norm Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis who recently retired as a professional bee wrangler, talks bees with Barbara Allen-Diaz, UC ANR vice president. The bee sculpture, in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis, is the work of Donna Billick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's National Pollinator Week!

June 17, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's National Pollinator Week! Do you know where your pollinators are? It was good to see the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) conduct its recent "Be a Scientist" project.
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