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.

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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Apiculturist/bee wrangler Norman Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

So, You Have This Bee Phobia...

November 10, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Are you afraid of bees? Not apiculturist Norman Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis and a professional bee wrangler. He worked behind the scenes in a new Animal Planet program, My Extreme Animal Phobia, scheduled to be broadcast Friday, Nov. 11 at 10 p.m.

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Biologist Martha Weiss of Georgetown University studies Lepidopteran learning and memory.

Butterflies Are Good Learners

November 9, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Butterflies are good learners--just ask Martha Weiss. Weiss, associate professor of biology at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

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Madagascar hissing cockroach crawls up the arm of Mick Dunning, 6, of Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

For the Love of Bugs

November 8, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"Where is the love for bugs?" science writer Rachel Nuwer asked in a recent article published in the New York Times. Well, there is that "ick" factor.

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Lynn Kimsey with a gigantic "warrior wasp" she discovered on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Discovering Warrior Wasps

November 7, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Lynn S. Kimsey is an entomologist, and has been one for most of her life. So begins the National Science Foundation's recent LiveScience feature on the UC Davis entomologist. It's an interesting piece.

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