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.

Jacklyn Wong in a canopy just outside of Iquitos, Peru. (Photo by Stephen Yanoviak)

In Pursuit of the Dengue Mosquito

September 15, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The target: the dengue mosquito. The occasion: A UC Davis Department of Entomology seminar. Jacklyn Wong, who last summer received her doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, studying with major professor and mosquito expert Tom Scott, will headline the department's first fall seminar.

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Fiery skipper struggles to free itself in a spider web. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Skipper Wasn't Skipping

September 14, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The skipper wasn't skipping. In fact, it wasn't doing much of anything. The fiery skipper butterfly (Hylephila phyleus), tangled in a spider web, struggled furiously to free itself. Not going to happen. The sticky substance stuck to her like super glue. It's a scene you don't often see.

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Franklin's bumble bee on a California poppy. (Photo by Robbin Thorp)

Saving Franklin's Bumble Bee

September 13, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, is on a mission. He and fellow members of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation are trying to save Franklin's bumble bee from extinction.

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Wool carder bee sunning itself on a plum leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sunny Side of a Leaf

September 12, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

A good time to photograph the European wool carder bee is in the early morning when it's warming its muscles to prepare for flight. It lies perfectly still. That's what it did in our yard last weekend. It warmed itself on the sunny side of a leaf. Not unlike the sunny side of a street...

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Eric Mussen will be a key speaker at the Western Apicultural Society conference in Hawaii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Aloha, Bees!

September 9, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When beekepers from all over the Western states converge on the Western Apicultural Society (WAS) meeting in Hawaii next week, they won't be there to bask in the sun.

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