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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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UC Davis entomology major Kaitai Liu chats with budding entomologist Eden Jett of Berkeley as she holds a walking stick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum Welcomes You to Next Open House

January 8, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You can meet the scientists, examine the collections, look through microscopes, hold walking sticks, and participate in a family arts-and-crafts activity. Those are some of the activities planned at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Saturday, Jan. 11 from 1 to 4 p.m.
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Angie Lenard, postdoctoral scholar, University of Nevada

Of Human-Modified Environments and Cabbage White Butterflies

January 7, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You won't want to miss this UC Davis Entomology and Nematology seminar by postdoctoral scholar Angie Lenard of the University of Nevada, Reno. She'll speak on "Insects in Human-Modified Environments" at the next UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar, set for 4:10 p.m.
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Michelle Monheit of Woodland stands by "Miss Bee Haven," sculpted by Donna Billick. Michelle has visited the garden since childhood when her mother was working on bee research. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Renewing Memories of the UC Davis Bee Haven

January 6, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's like Old Home Week or Old Home Day when Michelle Monheit visits the UC Davis Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road. I visit the garden whenever I'm in the area, she said, as she headed over to the six-foot-long ceramic-mosaic bee sculpture, Miss Bee Haven, that anchors the half-acre bee garden.
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