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. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet.

Entomologist Jeff Smith, associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, talks about a rose-haired tarantula at a Bohart open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bug Lovers, Unite!

December 17, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you like bugs and live in Northern California, you're in luck. The newly formed California Bug Club has scheduled its first meeting for 6 p.m., Satuday, Jan. 12 in the Elk Grove Library's meeting room, 8900 Elk Grove Blvd.

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Whitney Krupp with her beetle art work. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Exciting Insect Tales and Art

December 14, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Deep in the forest, in a tree so old its bark is blackened and its roots are larger around than a man, a beetle flaps its wings.

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ONE: A sole honey bee visits a rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Going for the Roses

December 13, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Just call it going for the roses. Or a hot spot. In between the showers and the sunshine, the bees at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis, emerge from their hives to forage.

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Sign at the entrance to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis depicts honey bees, a skep, DNA and almond blossoms. It is the work of Donna Billick of Davis (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'A' Is for Almonds; 'B' is for Bees

December 12, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's the Big 4-0 for the Almond Board of California's annual almond industry conference this week. Some 1000 convention-goers are gathering in the Sacramento Convention Center. The 40th annual conference opened Tuesday, Dec. 11 and runs through Thursday, Dec. 13.

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The Walter Leal lab wearing matching t-shirts. See caption at end of the blog. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Touch of Humor

December 11, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, was elected to the prestigious Brazilian Academy of Sciences, his lab members donned matching t-shirts--t-shirts with a touch of humor and a dose of humility. On the front: "I did the work.

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