Bug Squad Logo

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. 

Primary Image
Honey bee on a cenizo, Leucophyllum frutescens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Plants, Pollinators and UC Davis

October 12, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you've never been to a UC Davis Arboretum plant sale, you should. The last plant sale of the year will take place Sunday, Oct. 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive.
View Article
Primary Image
Close-up of a Smerinthus cerisyi caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

What's That Caterpillar?

October 11, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
What's that caterpillar? This little fellow (or gal) was munching--quite contentedly, thank you--on the leaves of an aspen tree. The homeowner didn't take too kindly to the critter defoliating his prized tree, newly purchased in Oregon and newly planted in Vacaville, Calif.
View Article
Primary Image
Monarch butterfly nectaring lantana, while a digger bee, Anthophora urbana, heads toward it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Coming Right at You

October 10, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's not often you see a monarch butterfly and a digger bee in the same photo. Such was the case on a recent visit to a lantana patch at a west Vacaville home.
View Article
Primary Image
New World orchid bees at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Green Bees

October 9, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The folks at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis,call them "jungle gems." And "gems" they are. They're New World orchid bees (Euglossine bees), which museum director Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, describes as "the most beautiful bees in the world.
View Article
Primary Image
Honey bee on a blanket flower, Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

So Bee It

October 8, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Honey bees on blanket flowers (Gaillardia). Honey bees on Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia). The Girls of Autumn....not unlike The Boys of Summer...
View Article