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.

Metallic blue digger wasp from Sphecidae family. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Blue Wasp at Bodega Bay

June 10, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Visitors to Bodega Head, Sonoma County, will see lupine, California golden poppies, wild radish, mustard, seaside daises and scores of other flowers in bloom. And if they're lucky--a metallic blue digger wasp from the Sphecidae family of thread-waisted wasps.

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A honey bee on a violet trumpet blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's So Vein

June 7, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Occasionally we see a honey bee on the violet trumpet vine (Clytostoma calystegiodies) but the hummingbirds seem to like it better. The delicate purple-veined blossoms burst out in late spring or summer. It's a UC Davis Arboretum All-Star.

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Male long-horned bee, Melissodes communis, on salvia. Identified by Robbin Thorp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

For Beginners, a Guide to Pollinators

June 6, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So many flowers. So many pollinators. So many floral visitors. On every field trip, we see something new and different, such as the male long-horned bee, Melissodes communis (below) on salvia and the female sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, on a Mexican hat flower.

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The feather-legged fly is a parasitoid that lays its eggs inside stink bugs and other agricultural pests. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How to Find Insects

June 5, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you're craving to find out more about insects--specifically how to FIND them--then you'll want to attend the Bohart Museum of Entomologys open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, June 9. It's free and open to the public.

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This photo, appearing in the field guide, is of Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen being stung by a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Great Field Guide to Bees

June 4, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you've studied bees, you know that there are approximately 20,000 described species of bees in the world. Most people are familiar with honey bees and bumble bees, but they don't know about "those big black bees" (carpenter bees) or "those green metallic bees" (sweat bees).

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