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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. 

Sunflower bee (Svastra spp.) foraging on cosmos. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Pollen Party

July 13, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Makes sense that the sunflower bee (Svastra spp.) forages on the genus Cosmos. Cosmos (also the common name) is a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae. Sunflower bee: sunflower family. A specialist bee.
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Mayfly, from the family Baetidae, rests on a flowering artichoke. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Oh, the Critters We Overlook

July 12, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Oh, the critters we overlook. If you have flowering artichokes, expect to see honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees and syrphid flies foraging on them. And a few spiders waiting for dinner. Don't expect to see a mayfly. The mayfly habitat is in or around water.
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Alfalfa butterfly, Colias eurytheme, lands in a swimming pool. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

These Colors Didn't Run

July 10, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
We've seen bumble bees, honey bees, sweat bees, wool carder bees and syrphid flies topple into our swimming pool, but never an alfalfa butterfly until now.
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Worker bees working inside the hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee-ing Young

July 9, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Pity the poor worker bee. In the spring/summer months, she lives only four to six weeks and then she dies. Bee scientists say she basically works herself to death.
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