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.

Honey bee nectaring in the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Great Bee Count

August 10, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Are you ready for the Great Bee Count? It's happening Saturday, Aug. 11. You're encouraged to be a "citizen scientist" and count the bees in your backyard or garden over a 15-minute period and to watch or listen to a national online video broadcast at http://www.yourgardenshow.

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Honey bee foraging on a button willow, also known as a button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Cross Pollination of Ideas

August 9, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Bee creative! That's what scientists at the University of California, Davis; area artists; and the general public will "bee" during the Davis Art Center's public exhibit, "Discovery Art: Cross Pollination, Sharing Art, Sharing Ideas," on Friday night, Aug. 10.

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Yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) crawls inside a penstemon, "Evelyn." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Native on Native

August 8, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Native on native. That's when you get when you see a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) on a penstemon, also known as "beard's tongue." Both the bee and the flower are native to North America.

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Male sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, on a purple coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

No Sweat Being Green

August 7, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Beekeepers describe their honey bees as "my girls" or "my beautiful girls." It's a term of endearment. Now take the green metallic sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus. If honey bees are beautiful (and they are) then these bees are spectacular.

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Close-up of a bordered plant bug, family Largidae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How Blue Can It Be?

August 6, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

How blue can it be? We spotted a metallic blue bug, one of nature's most amazing colors, last Sunday. It was in the Mostly Natives Nursery in Tomales, a Marin County site frequented by many University of California entomologists and staff as they work on their urban bee research and publications.

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