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.

THIS is a preview of the North American Bee Calendar, created by native bee enthusiast Celeste Ets-Hokin of the San Francisco Bay Area. Proceeds benefit the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation and the Great Sunflower Project.

Calendaring the North American Bees

September 24, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

This is no ordinary calendar. We just previewed the second annual North American Native Bee calendar and it's just absolutely spectacular.

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HONEY BEE GURU Eric Mussen says that "beekeepers in California are cautiously optimistic that their colonies are going to survive the winter in better shape that they have in the past few years." He'll be the keynote speaker at a public celebration, "Bee Informed," on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at the Citizen Hotel in Sacramento.

Bee Informed

September 23, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Colony collapse disorder--what's the status? Beekeepers in California are cautiously optimistic that their colonies are going to survive the winter in better shape that they have in the past few years, says Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty.

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NOTED MALARIA EXPERT Shirley Luckhart will be the first speaker in the UC Davis Department of Entomology's fall seminar series. She will speak from 12:10 to 1 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 29 in 122 Briggs Hall. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"S" Is for Seminars

September 22, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If it's September--and it is--"S" is for seminars. All over the UC Davis campus, departments are gearing up for fall seminars.

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ENTOMOLOGY GRADUATE STUDENTS Amy Morice and James Harwood check out a camera. They were among the students in James R. Carey's class on "How to Make an Insect Collection." The video clips are now posted on the UC Davis Department of Entomology website. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

And All Within 10 Minutes

September 21, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When you were first asked/requested/urged/required to make an insect collection, where did you go for information? How did you learn how to collect, display and preserve insects?

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Black Widow!

September 20, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The very presence of a black widow spider, shiny black with a globe-shaped abdomen, strikes fear in most people. And not just on Halloween.

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