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.

Assistant professor Neal Williams and Kimiora Ward, research associate from the Williams lab, collect bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Protecting the Pollinators

November 17, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's good to see so many publications focusing on the pollinator crisis--because that's exactly what it is, a crisis. Writing for the Nature journal, Sharon Levy recently examined pollination studies that focus on the importance of pollinators and the plants they frequent.

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Visitors to the Bohart Museum can hold a walking stick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Things to be Thankful for--Bugs

November 16, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Thanksgiving will come early to the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis. An open house, appropriately themed "Thankful for Bugs," is set from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 1124 Academic Surge on California Drive. And it's free. Visitors can view insect specimens from all over the world.

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The sign at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Some International Publicity

November 15, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis, and its adjacent honey bee garden, the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, received an international shot of publicity when My Extreme Animal Phobia aired last Friday on the Animal Planet Channel.

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Newly emerged worker bee from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis.

A Gathering of Beekeepers

November 14, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Let it bee. But the California State Beekeepers Association (CSBA) certainly won't. When the beekeepers and their affiliates gather today (Monday, Nov. 14) through Thursday, Nov.

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This was scrawled on a Briggs Hall blackboard during an annual UC Davis Picnic Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Bugs Rule' at ESA Meeting

November 11, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Someone scrawled "Bugs Rule" on a Briggs Hall blackboard during a recent UC Davis Picnic celebration. A delightful drawing of a bug accompanied the proclamation. Bugs do rule, and they'll rule at the 59th annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America (ESA), to take place Nov.

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