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.

Bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenski, on woolly sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bumble Bees at Bodega

July 15, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you're on your way to Bodega Bay in Sonoma County, stop at Bodega Head and see all the yellow-faced bumble bees on a yellow coastal plant, Eriophyllum, commonly known as the woolly sunflower. The bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, are back and they particularly like the Eriophyllum.

View Article

Western tiger swallowtail on a purple coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey

Purple Coneflower Never Looked So Good

July 12, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You never know what you'll see on a purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). Honey bees. Check. Sweat bees. Check. Hummingbirds. Check. But sometimes these rough-and-tumble blossoms are graced with a Western tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio rutulus).

View Article

Crab spider on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lying in Wait

July 11, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

They're ambush predators. Here you are, a bee, touching down on a flower and little do you know there's a patient and persistent crab spider lying in wait.

View Article

Gulf Fritillary butterfly on lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

That's One Beautiful Butterfly

July 10, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

First the lantana, and then the passion flower vine. The Gulf Fritillary butterflies (Agraulis vanillae) flutter daily around our backyard. They stop for a little nectar from lantana (family Verbenaceae), and then head over to the passion flower vines (genus Passiflora) to breed or lay their eggs.

View Article

A blue honey bee on a coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Feeling the Blues

July 9, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You've probably seen a blue moon, which happens every two to three years. That's when a second full moon occurs in a single calendar month. You've also probably seen blueprints, blue books and blue-plate specials. You've sung the blues and you've been blue.

View Article