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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. 

This is a white-eyed Caucasian (dark) honey bee drone. White-eyed drones are blind. In the foreground is honey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

White-Eyed Drone

April 25, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Beekeepers sometimes see a white-eyed drone in their hives--a genetic mutation. All drones (male) honey bees, have these spectacular wrap-around eyes that are perfect for finding a virgin queen on her maiden flight. After all, the drone's sole purpose is to mate with a queen and then die.
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Male carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What's That Buzz?

April 24, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
So you're sitting in your yard having your morning coffee, and you get buzzed--not a buzz from the caffeine but a buzz by a carpenter bee. A male carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, is guarding the salvia, fending off all other male suitors as it waits for a female to arrive.
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Bed bug, Cimex lectularius, shown here ingesting a blood meal from the arm of a “voluntary” human host, is wreaking havoc locally, nationally and globally.(Photo by Piotr Naskrecki, published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the Wikipedia website.)

Little Bug, Big Problem

April 23, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
They're tiny--about 1/5 of an inch long. They feed at night and hide during the day. There's a good reason why they're called "the menace in the mattress." The mattress is one of their hiding spots. They? Bed bugs. Parasites that feed on human blood.
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Bug banner at Briggs beckons. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Is There a Doctor in the House?

April 20, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Is there a doctor in the house? If you head over to the UC Davis Department of Entomology's displays at Briggs Hall and at the Bohart Museum of Entomology on Saturday, April 21 during the campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day, you'll find them. Bug doctors. Lots of them. They'll be there from 10 a.m.
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