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.

Aedes aeypti, also known as the dengue mosquito. (CDC Photo)

Fighting Dengue

January 4, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The dengue research news coming out of medical entomologist Thomas Scott's lab at the University of California, Davis, is certainly exciting. And compelling.

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Pollination ecologist Neal Williams of UC Davis with native bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Importance of Pollinators

January 3, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's a brief appearance but the message is important. Pollination ecologist Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology at UC Davis, appears briefly in a segment on native pollinators produced by America's Heartland. The show is now airing throughout the country.

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A queen black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, heading for manzanita blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A New Year and a First Bumble Bee

January 2, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What an unexpected find! It was the first day of 2013 and what did we see: a queen bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, aka black-tailed bumble bee. Like scores of others, we decided to take a walk on Jan. 1 in the Benicia State Recreation Area.

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Close-up of cabbage white butterfly in mid-2012. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

He Nabbed It on New Year's Day

January 1, 2013

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Art Shapiro knows where to find the cabbage white butterflies (Pieris rapae). No sooner had he announced his annual "Beer-for-a-Butterfly" Contest, then he found one. Actually, two.

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Bye, Bye 2012

December 31, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The last honey bee of 2012. Despite the cold weather at Bodega Bay last Friday, we managed to see a few honey bees nectaring a New Zealand tea tree, aka Leptospermum scoparium.

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