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 monarch butterfly on lantana last week in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Saving the Monarchs

November 6, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you think people don't care about monarch butterflies, think again. A recent survey published in Conservation Letters showed that Americans are willing to spend at least $4.78 billion to help conserve monarchs (Danaus plexippus), one of the most recognizable of all insects.

View Article

Hover fly, Eristalis hirta, on zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lovin' the Zinnias

November 5, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Orange zinnias not only brighten our autumn days but glorify our gardens. And when there's a bug on the zinnias, all the better.

View Article

This photo of a bee foraging on a zinnia, taken in the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, graces the front and back covers of "Bee Friendly: A Planting Guide for European Honeybees and Australia Native Pollinators." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

All the Way from Down Under

November 4, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

One of the most prominent and distant--as in far away--visitors to the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, the half-acre bee friendly garden on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis, was Mark Leech of Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.

View Article

Skull shares the habitat of the giant cave cockroah (Blaberus gigante). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Things That Go Bump and Boo in the Night

November 1, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It was about things that go bump and boo in the night during the annual Bohart Museum Society's Halloween party. The society's annual Halloween party in the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, showcased a combination of insects and costumes.

View Article

Jumping spider peering between the petals of a yellow rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

About Those Jumping Spiders!

October 31, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Every day should be Spider Appreciation Day, but especially on Halloween. Ophthalmologist and professor Ivan Schwab of the UC Davis Health System says that spiders get a bad rap. Few would harm you, and only rarely are spiders aggressive towards humans.

View Article