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.

Miss May Is...a...Ready for This? A Sweat Bee

October 13, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

This is no ordinary calendar. No oceans. No mountains. No deserts. Each month features a "pin-up girl." But these models will never run for Miss America or promote world peace. Only a few have social skills and most are solitary. Take a look at Miss May. She's a sweat bee.

View Article

A HONEY BEE nectars red buckwheat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

In the Pink

October 12, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You gotta love that red buckwheat (Eriogonum grande rubescens). Attractive to honey bees, native bees and butterflies, red buckwheat is flourishing in the garden. Okay, it's called red buckwheat, but the clusters are rosy pink. They're about the same size as ping-pong balls.

View Article

Anise swallowtail caterpillar on anise, also known as fennel.. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Transformed

October 11, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's called a complete metamorphosis--from an egg to a larva to a pupa to an adult. Metamorphosis--Greek for "transformation" or "change in shape" is spectacular. And it's particularly spectacular when the subject is the Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon).

View Article

REDHUMPED CATERPILLAR gorges on the leaves of a redbud tree. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Once Upon a Time...

October 8, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Once upon a time, there was a redhumped caterpillar gorging on the leaves of a redbud tree. For three days, the hungry caterpillar gobbled the leaves, like an insect version of Pac-Man. It snipped, shredded and skeletonized the leaves and then went for more.

View Article

MOSQUITO RESEARCHER Anthony "Anton" Cornel of UC Davis collected and established the colony of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes that was sequenced. Here he's shown working in a field tent identifying mosquitoes in Cameroon. (Photo by Kevin N'Gabo)

The Mosquito Researchers

October 7, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It was a major milestone, sequencing the genome of Culex quinquefasciatus, the so-called southern house mosquito. The research, spearheaded by UC Riverside geneticists and published in the Oct. 1, 2010 edition of Science, involved scientists from 37 other institutions.

View Article