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.

Honey bee foraging in bacopa on grounds of the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An Awesome Bloomer

January 11, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

At first glance, we thought "Strawberry blossoms!" Not strawberries, though.

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UC Berkeley conservation biologist Claire Kremen (right) confers with colleague Alexandria-Marie Klein, then a postdoctoral fellow in her lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey).

Why This Honey Bee Research Is So Important

January 10, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

They're on to something. Definitely. An international research team has been researching honey bee pollination of almonds in the three-county area of Yolo, Colusa and Stanislaus since 2008, and what these scientists have discovered is astounding.

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Almond tree blooming on Jan. 1, 2013 in Benicia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

First Almond Blossom of 2013

January 9, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Talk about an early bloomer! At least one almond tree was blooming in California on the first day of the year. In the Benicia State Recreation Area, to be exact. We spotted the almond tree flowering on Jan. 1 near the entrance to the state park.

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'THE BAD'--This is a Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito that transmits West Nile virus and other diseases. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Biggest and the Baddest

January 8, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Sometimes we divide insects into "the biggest and the baddest." Such will be the case Sunday, Jan. 13 when the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, hosts an open house from 1 to 4 p.m., in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge building.

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Assassin bug. Pselliopus spinicollis, feeding on dead Drosophila. (Photo by Sam Beck)

Bring on the Tourists!

January 7, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's a case of a sticky situation benefitting a plant. Or more precisely, dead fruit flies or carrion on a tarweed plant can benefit the plant in more ways that most people would ever think about, say researchers in the UC Davis Department of Entomology.

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