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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. 

Ladybugs in the fava beans at the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Love in the Fava Beans

January 5, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was lovely day today, in more ways than one. During the lunch hour, we stopped by the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis, and discovered more than just blossoms in the planter box filled with fava beans.
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Two cabbage whites (Pieris rapae) on catmint in Vacaville, Calif., on Sept. 7, 2008. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

On the Fly

January 4, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
We've been waiting with bated breath for butterfly expert Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis, to announce he's found the first Pieris rapae of the year. Not so. Not yet.
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Two honey bees sharing a California poppy on Garrod Drive, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Might as Well Be Spring?

January 2, 2012
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) bloom and honey bees battle over the blossoms, can spring be far behind? No, it's just California's pleasant weather.
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Feral honey bee colony in a Modesto ash tree in Vacaville is still going strong. On Sunday, it will enter its third year of existence. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Out with the Old?' Not!

December 30, 2011
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
As 2012 approaches, it's "out with the old and in with the new!" Not always. The huge feral honey bee colony that we photographed Jan. 9, 2011 in a Modesto ash tree at a Vacaville (Solano County), backyard, is still going strong.
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