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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. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet. 

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Some of the insects that entomologist Fran Keller and crew collected in Belize for the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

Can You Spare a Leg?

December 16, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you collect insect specimens, can you spare a leg? It's for science.
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Ettamarie Peterson, known as the "Queen Bee of Sonoma County," gets ready to greet visitors at the Vacaville Museum Guild's Children's Party, an annual event held every August in the museum courtyard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Good to See Ettamarie Peterson 'Bee' Honored

December 13, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was good to see Sonoma County's "Queen Bee," Ettamarie Peterson of Petaluma, bee honored on the cover of the December edition of Bee Culture magazine. She often submits articles for the magazine. I decided it was time her to be featured and wrote a two-page article, illustrated with six images.
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A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, packing red pollen from a lupine last July at Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bumble Bee's Red Pollen: 'Tis the Season

December 12, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ever noticed that when yellow-faced bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, forage in lupine that their pollen is red? Last July when we were camping at Bodega Bay, we delighted in watching the bumble bees foraging in the lupine.
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