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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. 

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Male long-horned bee, genus Melissodes, probably Melissodes communis, as identified by Robbin Thorp. It is on salvia (sage). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Long-Horned Bee

June 17, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
We have long-horned cattle and long-horned grasshoppers.
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A katydid, or "long-horned grasshopper," from family Tettigonliidae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hop to It!

June 14, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
What's that hopping on our patio? At first we thought it was a grasshopper.
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Honey bee heads toward a flowering artichoke. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Purple Forest

June 13, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Flowering artichokes indicate one of two things (1) someone never bothered to harvest them or (2) someone loves bees. We let our artichokes flower. So does the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden on Bee Biology Road next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.
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A female digger bee finishes her nest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Overlooked Bees of Bodega Head

June 12, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Those who hike the trails of Bodega Head, a small promontory in Sonoma County overlooking the Pacific Ocean, enjoy the colorful wildflowers, the roaring ocean, and a sheltered sandy beach. They picnic. They play. They pose for photos. But there's one thing they don't do.
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Gulf fritillary caterpillar munching away on passion flower leaves. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Welcome Back, Gulf Frit Caterpillars

June 11, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The scrub jays are just doing their job. But they're doing it too well. The gulf frittillary butterflies (Agraulis vanillae) are mating and depositing their eggs on our passion flower vines--as we want them to do--but complete metamorphosis always seems to be incomplete.
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