Bug Squad Logo

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. 

Queen Turner inspects the beekeeping operation on the rooftop of the San Francisco Chronicle. Turner completed a 10-month stay in the U.S. and returned to Botswana where she is head of the beekeeping section of the Ministry of Agriculture in the Botswana government. (Photo: Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Just Bee-Cause

March 7, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
In recent years, honey bees received neither recognition nor respect until commercial beekeeper David Hackenberg of Pennsylvania/Florida sounded the alarm in 2006 about his missing honey bees.
View Article
This honey bee, in the process of defending her hive, is stinging Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of UC Davis. That's her abdominal tissue being pulled out. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why Bee Stings Can Be Deadly Serious

March 6, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Daily Mail, UK, recently reported a tragic case of a fatal bee sting that occurred in a back yard in Hampton, near Solihull, West Midlands, England. A honey bee apparently stung a 47-year-old father on his foot and he went into anaphylactic shock.
View Article
Leafcutting bees heading home to their condo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Go Native! Be a Native Bee 'Beekeeper'

March 5, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're yearning to be a backyard beekeeper, "go native." "Go native" with native bees, that is. Many folks are building or buying bee condos to provide nesting sites for blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria) and leafcutting bees (Megachile spp.).
View Article
This is the insect that Matan Shelomi studies. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey

About Those Walking Sticks...

March 4, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Why would anyone want to study walking sticks (stick insects)? Well, why wouldn't anyone NOT want to? That's the question we ought to ask. Enter doctoral candidate Matan Shelomi of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
View Article
Subscribe