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.

An adult Gulf Fritillary butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Gulf Frit Kind of Day

September 23, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It was a Gulf Fritillary kind of day last Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis. That would be Agraulis vanillae. Visitors to the open house saw Gulf Frit eggs, caterpillars, chrysalids and adults.

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Close-up shot of a robber fly's eyes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Robber Fly: Totally Aggressive

September 20, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Check out that moustache! Once you see the powerfully built robber fly of the Asilidae family, with its huge eyes, short proboscis and bristly "moustache," you won't forget it. It's an aggressive predator known for its speed, its strength, and its power.

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A Gulf Fritillary butterfly, Agraulis vanillae, sharing a passion flower with honey bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Flower Feeders

September 20, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

University of Minnesota honey bee researcher Marla Spivak, in her TED talk on honey bee health, referred to bees as "flower feeders." That they are. Flower feeders. As are other pollinators from butterflies to beetles to bats.

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Night time for the praying mantis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey

Up Close and Personal With a Praying Mantis

September 18, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you've never been up close and personal with a praying mantis, here's your chance. At the Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house on Saturday, Sept. 21 from 1 to 4 p.m., at the University of California, Davis, you'll see not one, but two, praying mantids. And very much alive.

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Honey bee on a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Cold, Hard Facts About Honey Bees

September 17, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Photos of honey bees can sometimes exude a dreamy, even ethereal quality, but in real life, bees are in trouble. That's why Marla Spivak's TED talk should be required viewing.

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