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.

A jeweled beetle, part of the arts and crafts activity. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bug Squad: Article

The Beetles and the Sticks

December 2, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Ooh, a walking stick! Look! Its eating a leaf. Ooh, look at the dung beetles. Those were some of the comments overheard at the Bohart Museum of Entomologys recent open house, themed Beauty and the Beetles.

View Article

Butterfly expert Art Shapiro of UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bug Squad: Article

Linking Art with Science

November 29, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So, you want to know more about butterflies and art, and the link between art and science. Youre in luck.

View Article

A honey bee heading for a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bug Squad: Article

Thankful for Insects

November 28, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Of the many things I'm thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for the millions of insects that populate our planet. Scientists have described more than a million species, but there may be 10 million more undescribed. I am thankful for honey bees.

View Article

Spotted cucumber beetle and its path of destruction. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bug Squad: Article

The Diabolical Diabrotica

November 27, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Some folks mistake the spotted cucumber beetle for a ladybug or lady beetle. However, unlike the beneficial ladybug, which devours aphids and other soft-bodied insects, the spotted cucumber beetle is a major agricultural pest.

View Article

The image of a blue dasher, captured by Rachel Graham of UC Davis, appears in the Entomological Society of America's 2014 World of Insects Calendar.

Bug Squad: Article

Her Blue Dasher Is ESA's June Bug

November 26, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What a stunning photo! Rachel Graham, a master's student in entomology at the University of California, Davis who loves photographing insects, recently submitted an image of a blue dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, for the Entomological Society of America's 2014 World of Insects calendar.

View Article