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.

PRAYING MANTIS at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bugs R Us

December 10, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

One of the highlights of the 58th annual Entomological Society of America meeting in San Diego, Dec. 12-15 is the Linnaean Games.

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World-renowned organic chemist Wittko Francke (second from right) met with UC Davis researchers following his presentation on Wednesday at a UC Davis Department of Entomology seminar. From left are chemical ecologist Zain Syed of the Walter Leal lab; chemical ecologist and forest entomologist Steve Seybold of the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Davis, and an affiliate of the UC Davis Department of Entomology; Wittko Francke; and chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor and former c

A World of Scents

December 9, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Nature is more a world of scents than a source of noise. That quote sound familiar? Chemical ecologist Jacques Le Magnen (1916-2002) said that back in 1970.

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DOCTORAL CANDIDATE Ashley Horton with malaria mosquitoes, Anopheles gambiae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tackling Malaria

December 8, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Those malaria mosquitoes may have met their match--with researchers at the University of California, Davis. UC Davis entomology doctoral candidate Ashley Horton, recent winner of the 2010 Arthur J. and Dorothy D. Palm Agricultural Scholarship, focuses her research on how mosquitoes transmit malaria.

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HONEY BEE pollinating an almond tree at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

CCD: Worldwide Malady

December 7, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Honey bee guru Eric Mussen, Extension apiculturist and a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty, is quoted in a Dec. 6 article in the Epoch Times about colony collapse disorder (CCD).

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BEDBUG--"Bed bugs are small, flat insects that feed on the blood of sleeping people and animals," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "They are reddish-brown in color, wingless, and range from 1 to 7 millimeters in length. They can live several months without a blood meal." (CDC Photo)

Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite

December 6, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Forensic entomologist Bob Kimsey (right) of the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, studies bedbugs--those little bloodsuckers that prey on you while you're sleeping.

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