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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. 

Crab spider with its kill, a cabbage white butterly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Bad Day for a Butterfly

July 1, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was a bad day for a butterfly. We stopped by the Ruth Risdon Storer Garden, part of the UC Davis Arboretum, at noon today as triple-digit temperatures climbed to a scorching 103.
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Bee fly, a bombyliid, hovers like a helicopter. Note the long tongue. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Bee Fly!

June 28, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you ever seen a bee fly, a member of the family Bombylidae? It's about the size of some bees. It buzzes like a bee. But you can quickly tell it's not a bee by its behavior.
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Mud dauber wasp, Sceliphron caementarium. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Now That's a Wasp Waist!

June 27, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You've heard the expression, "wasp waist," in reference to someone's tiny waist? Well, all you need do is look at the waist of the mud dauber wasp, Sceliphron caementarium, and you'll see where that expression originated.
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