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.

Honey bee foraging on borage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Borage! Borage! Borage!

July 13, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

A recent trip to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, Fort Bragg, yielded spectacular views of the ocean, but something else also proved spectacular--the honey bees and bumble bees foraging on borage.

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Inside the hive--every bee has a job to do. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee-ing There for the Bee-a-Thon

July 12, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

There are marathons, read-a-thons, dance-a-thons, quilt-a-thons, paint-a-thons, geek-a-thons and sleep-a-thons. So why not a bee-a-thon? YourGardenShow.com is teaming with The Great Sunflower Project to sponsor a worldwide bee-a-thon, a free online town-hall event to be broadcast from 9 a.m. to 9 p.

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Flame skimmer (Libellula saturata) rests on a tomato stake after hunting prey over a fish pond. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Firecracker of a Dragonfly

July 11, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You can't miss the flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata). You especially can't miss the male, which is firecracker red. We watched a male flame skimmer hunt for prey over our fish pond Saturday afternoon.

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Camouflaged crab spider waits for prey on a gold coin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

All That Glitters Is Not Gold

July 8, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

All that glitters is not gold. The gold coin flowers (Asteriscus maritimus) planted in our yard attract a goodly number of leafcutter bees and hover flies (aka flower flies and syrphid flies). But if you look closely, gold coins attract something else--arachnids.

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Brian Johnson, who specializes in behavior, genetics and evolution of honey bees, has joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Building Up the UC Davis Bee Program

July 7, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis Department of Entomology, seemed like a lonely place in 1994, 2004 and 2005, that's because four professors retired. Now the bee biology program is gaining new strength.

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