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.

A honey bee checking out a butterfly rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Stop and Smell the Roses

January 25, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"Stop and smell the roses." How many times have you heard that? It's usually from someone urging us to slow down, to savor life, and to pay attention to the pleasures. Like fragrant roses.

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These Bohart Museum of Entomology specimens are Xerces Blue butterflies, Glaucopsyche xerces, (extinct). The museum has Xerces t-shirts for sale. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day: Super Science Saturday!

January 24, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What are you doing the day BEFORE the Super Bowl? Thinking about that battle in New Orleans? Getting ready to settle in for the Harbowl? Wondering who's going to win the Vince Lombardi trophy? How about heading over to the University of California, Davis, campus for "Super Science Saturday"?

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This is the cabbage white butterfly that Art Shapiro collected on President Obama's Inauguration Day, Jan. 21. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A beer, a butterfly and Obama

January 23, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's not often that "beer, butterfly and Obama" land in the same sentence. But such was the case Monday, Jan. 21 for butterfly expert Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis.

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This frame shows healthy bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee-ing Healthy

January 22, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When it comes to honey bee health, beekeepers know that the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) ranks as "Beekeeping Enemy No. 1." These are terrible blood-sucking parasites that attack bees and raise havoc in the hive. They transmit a variety of diseases and can destroy a hive.

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Honey bee foraging in bush germander. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This Is Definitely a Magnet for Bees and Flower Flies

January 21, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The bush germander (Teucrium fruticans) is definitely a great fall-winter plant that's a magnet for bees. Just look at the bees that frequent the germander in the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road at UC Davis.

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