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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. 

The drone fly, Eristalis tenax, is often mistaken for a bee. The fly has the letter "H" on its abdomen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey Bee Impostor

March 21, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's often mistaken for a honey bee. Indeed, to the untrained eye, the drone fly (Eristalis tenax) appears to be a bee. It's not; it's a fly. Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, calls the drone fly "The H Bee.
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A honey bee foraging on ceanothus in the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ah, Spring!

March 20, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's a glorious day, the first day of spring, and what better time to mark the occasion by visiting the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive?
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Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president of UC ANR, "talks bees" with Bill Lewis, president of the California State Beekeepers' Association. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Buzz on California Agriculture Day

March 19, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The bees weren't all that buzzed at the 2014 California Agriculture Day, celebrated today (March 19) on the west lawn of the California State Capitol. The California State Beekeepers' Association (CSBA) and the Sacramento Area Beekeepers' Association (SABA) staffed a beekeeping booth from 10 a.m.
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Bee hives nestled in a field of green and yellow (mustard) along Highway 12, Napa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Wearing of the Green--and the Yellow

March 17, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
St. Patrick's Day is the "wearing of the green," but it's also the "wearing of the yellow." Wild mustard, that is. If you drive through the hills of Napa, around St.
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