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.

Crab spider nails a flower fly in the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Not a Good Day for a Flower Fly

May 27, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It was not a good day for a flower fly. A flower fly, aka syrphid fly, dropped down in a patch of pink roses at the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis today to sip nectar. It was a pink-rose kind of day. Not for the flower fly, though. A crab spider, lying in wait, pounced.

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Trying to Ward Off the Threats

May 26, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When we think about honey bees, we ought to think about the immune system. Understanding the honey bees immune system is crucial to battling the declining honey bee population, says University of California insect virus researcher Michelle Flenniken.

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Solitary vespid foraging ndian hawthorn at the Benicia marina. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Do You Brake for Wasps?

May 25, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Do you brake for wasps? We spotted a bumper sticker on the UC Davis campus the other day that read: "I brake for wasps." It was parked in the Briggs Hall loading zone--Briggs is the home of the UC Davis Department of Entomology--so I imagine it was braking for wasps right then and there.

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Ladybug looking for food on an artichoke. (Photo

They're Out There

May 24, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Ladybugs, aka ladybird beetles, are out there. Walk through the garden and they're easy to find. Last weekend we spotted one tucked in the heart of an artichoke, another climbing a nectarine tree, and still another perched on an artichoke leaf.

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Honey bees working a hive at the University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Roughly the Same

May 23, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"How are the bees doing?" That's the question beekeepers are asked all year. Well, today the annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) answered that question. The response? Roughly the same.

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