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.

Illustrator Laine Bauer (left) and author Fran Keller.

Our State Insect: Now in a Children's Book

February 1, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Not many people know that the state insect of California is the California dogface butterfly (Zerene eurydice) or the role that schoolchildren played to attain that honor.

View Article

The arm of Danielle Wishon and her bedbugs, feeding.

Bed Bugs at the Bohart

January 31, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Bed Bugs at the Bohart? Indeed. Those attending the Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house on Saturday, Feb. 2, will see them--and see them feeding. The Bohart Museum of Entomology is one of six museums or educational centers on the UC Davis campus holding an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

View Article

Queen bumble bee nectaring a hebe at the Berkeley marina. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A She-Bee on the Hebe

January 30, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, is back. We spotted some overwintering queen bumble bees gathering nectar on a hebe bush last Sunday at the Berkeley marina.

View Article

Silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). Photo by Scott Baurer, USDA.

Who's Who in the Bemisia Zoo

January 29, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's a catchy title: "Unraveling the Complex: Who's Who in the Bemisia Zoo?" Paul de Barro, a senior principal research scientist at CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Australia, will speak on "Unraveling the Complex: Whos Who in the Bemisia Zoo?

View Article

Honey bee lands on a Japanese apricot at Wickson Hall, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Sign of Spring: Flowering Apricots

January 28, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's a sure sign of spring when the Japanese apricot tree north of Wickson Hall at the University of California, Davis, blooms. Butterfly expert Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis, noticed it flowering on Jan. 21. "First fruit tree of 2013 blooming!" he said.

View Article