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.

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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Diane Ullman, entomology professor and associate dean at UC Davis, is a newly elected Fellow of the Entomological Society of America. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Pulitzer Prize in the Bug World

July 6, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Being named a Fellow of the 6000-member Entomological Society of America (ESA) is like winning the Pulitzer Prize in the bug world. So many talented entomologists out there. So few awards. And even fewer prestigious awards.

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Female black widow spider guarding her egg sacs on the lip of a swimming pool. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Black Widow Spider Spells Danger

July 5, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The female black widow spider stood guard. She clutched her two teardrop-shaped egg sacs, suspended from the web she'd earlier woven on the lip of the swimming pool. She spent the day crawling up, over and around them. Two sacs, about 300 eggs inside each one. Her future offspring. Proud Mama.

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Yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) foraging on a coneflower at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bumble Bee: Just Like a 'Traveling Salesman'

July 4, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

How do bumble bees plan their route to find the most rewarding flowers in the shortest distance? That "is a mathematical puzzle which has vexed academics and traveling salesmen alike," according to an article in the June 29th edition of Science Daily.

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