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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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Professor Thomas Scott, a worldwide expert on dengue, is pictured in Kenya.

Global Burden of Dengue

April 8, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Don't ever underestimate the threat of dengue. The mosquito-borne viral disease known as breakbone fever, is three times more prevalent than originally thought, according to a research paper published today in Nature and co-authored by dengue expert Thomas Scott of UC Davis.
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Kristina Tatiossian and the ceramic mosaic of a walnut twig beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Scholar and the Walnut Twig Beetle

April 5, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Most people have never seen the walnut twig beetle, a tiny insect that spreads a fungal pathogen that kills walnut trees. No wonder. The insect, measuring about 1.5 millimeters long, is much smaller than a grain of rice.
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Aphid reunion on a rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Aphid Reunion

April 2, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The aphids know how to plan a family reunion. Grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, mom and pop, brothers and sisters, cousins and more cousins--they're all gathering to feed on the lush growth of the spring roses, the juicy shoots, the tender buds. And they multiply.
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