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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. 

UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Diane Ullman (left) and Gale Okumura, lecturer emerita, Department of Design, stand in front of their project, "A Bird's Eye View," at the California Raptor Center. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Of Raptors and Insects

February 4, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When you visit the California Raptor Center (part of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine), during the 14th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 8, be sure to see "A Bird's Eye View," a ceramic-mosaic mural that graces an outer wall of the visitor center.
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This crew, shown here with nematology faculty member Shahid Siddique, staffed the nematology collection at the 12th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day. With him (from left) were then doctoral students Alison Coomer (now Blundell), Veronica Casey, Pallavi Shakya and Ching-Jung Lin.

Right This Way to the UC Davis Nematode Collection!

February 3, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Nematodes--and the faculty and graduate students who study them--will share the spotlight from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8 in the Katherine Esau Science Hall. The occasion: the 14th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day. The Esau Hall is located near Briggs Hall, off Kleiber Hall Lane.
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Emma "Em" Jochim, UC Davis doctoral candidate, on a field trip

Meet Butters at the Bohart on Biodiversity Museum Day

January 30, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Hi, Butters! When you visit the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the 14th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 8, you'll probably meet a scorpion named Butters. It's a new arrival, donated by a retired educator. She did not name it Butters.
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