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.

Newly emerged leafcutter bee outside her nest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bed Check!

June 11, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

All winter long my bee condo housed 16 tenants...and one earwig. And quite comfortably, too, thank you. It all began last fall when the leafcutting bees laid their eggs, provisioned each nest with a nectar/pollen ball, and plugged it with leaves. Just about every morning, I did a bed check.

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Know Your Sticks

June 8, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Entomologists at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, want you to know your sticks.

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Ivana Li with a walking stick. (Photo by Fran Keller, Bohart Museum of Entomology)

Outstanding Entomologist

June 7, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Ivana Li's fascinations with insects began in early childhood. She delighted in the insects on her parents' rose buses--the aphids, the ladybugs, grasshoppers and the caterpillars.

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Scorpion glowing under ultraviolet light at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Scorpions!

June 6, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Scorpions--to fear or to revere? The Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house last Sunday drew visitors of all ages who marveled at the scorpions glowing under ultraviolet light. UC Davis entomology major Alexander Nguyen flashed a UV light on the critters as his audience watched in amazement.

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Sweat bee, Halictus farinosus, prepares to leave one flower for another. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

In the Blink of an Eye

June 5, 2012

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

In the blink of an eye, they visit the rockpurslane (Calandrinia grandiflora). Now you see them, now you don't. They're a sweat bee, a little larger than most sweat bees, but a little smaller than a honey bee.

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