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 sips water from a rain-soaked napkin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Have a Drink on Me

March 25, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Diners know that a napkin serves a good purpose: touch the lips with it or protect the lap. Well, honey bees occasionally use a napkin, too. A recent sun break--blue skies, 70-degree temperatures, no rain--resulted in honey bees foraging for water on a rain-soaked napkin on the patio.

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The Irritable Insect

March 24, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

His topic is enticing: "The Irritable Insect." We've all found a few species of insects irritable; some more than others. (Apiculturists know how grumpy bees are when they open a hive on a cold, rainy day.

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ANTENNAE of a honey bee as she emerges from her cell at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hello, World!

March 23, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When honey bees make the transition from egg to larva to pupa to adult, it's magical. Today we watched bees chew through their cell cappings, flex their antennae, crawl out, and immediately look around for work to do.

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CALIFORNIA AG DAY at the state capitol last year. The annual event heralds in spring. This year's event takes place March 23. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

All Hail California Ag Day

March 22, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you head over to the California State Capitol tomorrow (Tuesday, March 23) don't be too surprised if there's a John Deere tractor on the west steps. March 23 is Ag Day when the state's urban and rural folks come out in force to celebrate the state's $34.8 billion ag industry.

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GERMAN-BORN physicist Albert Einstein (left), shown here accepting American citizenship in 1940, never said “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have not more than four years to live," his biographers say. At right is Judge Phillip Forman. (Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

Einstein Didn't Say It

March 21, 2011

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have not more than four years to live." That comment, widely attributed to physicist Albert Einstein, is all over the web.

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