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.

Monarch butterfly nectaring a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Mighty Monarch

October 5, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

We're accustomed to seeing a solitary monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) flitting around a garden. But millions of them? It was interesting to read the National Public Radio piece (Oct. 4) on Flight: A Few Million Little Creatures That Could.

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Honey bees are considered a superorganism. Here worker bees form a retinue around the queen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Superorganisms, Mimicry and Aphids

October 4, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Superorganisms, mimicry and aphids... Those are some of the topics to be covered at the UC Davis Department of Entomology's fall noonhour seminars, to begin Wednesday, Oct. 17 and continue through Wednesday, Nov. 28 in Room 1022 of the Life Sciences Building.

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The silver-spangled underside of the Gulf Fritillary, shown here nectaring lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Amazing Gulf Fritillary

October 3, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The Gulf Fritillary is as fascinating as it is amazing. The showy reddish-orange butterfly (Agraulis vanillae) is making a comeback in the Sacramento-Davis area. In the early 1970s, it was considered extinct in that area.

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A Gulf Fritillary butterfly in the process of laying an egg on a passion flower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ever Seen a Butterfly Laying an Egg?

October 3, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Let's talk butterfly eggs. Have you ever seen a Gulf Fritillary butterfly laying an egg in the wild? The Gulf Frit (Agraulis vanillae), one of the showiest of all butterflies, is a flash of orange-red as it flutters toward its host plant (genus Passiflora) to lay its eggs.

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UC Davis research entomologist William Reisen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

When Harry (Hoogstraal) Met Bill (Reisen)

October 1, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's good to see UC Davis research entomologist William "Bill" Reisen named the recipient of the coveted Harry Hoogstraal Medal, to be awarded Nov. 11 in Atlanta, Ga. at the 61st annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).

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