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 BEE, a Svastra obliqua expurgata, forages on a purple coneflower in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology, is monitoring the many species of bees in the garden. To date: more than 50 over the last two years. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Glory Bee

September 10, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Glory bee. There are more than just honey bees in the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. Think butterflies, dragonflies, sweat bees, metallic sweat bees, carpenter bees, hover flies, tachinid flies, wasps, praying mantids and what not.

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Thinking Outside the Box

September 9, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Diane Ullman, Donna Billick and Sarah Dalrymple (Sarah is shown at right) are used to thinking outside the box. Now they are thinking inside and outside the hive. Visitors to the grand opening celebration of the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, set from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept.

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EUROPEAN PAPER WASP rests on a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Capitalizing on the Colors

September 8, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Ever notice how the coloring of the wool carder bee resembles a yellowjacket and European paper wasp? Talk about capitalizing on the colors. Carder bees, so named because they card the fuzz or down from leaves to make their nests, are black and yellow.

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A BEE FLY nectars on sedum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Not Bees--They're Flies

September 7, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

There are "bees" and there are "flies." And then there are "bee flies." Bee flies? They're so named because they look somewhat like bees. Order: Diptera. Family: Bombyliidae. We spotted a single bee fly, as identified by UC Davis forensic entomologist Bob Kimsey, foraging on our sedum yesterday.

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WORKER BUMBLE BEE on anemone. This is a female yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii), as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Give Us an A, B, and C

September 6, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"A" is for anemone, "B" is for bumble bee and "C" is for coneflower. A visit to the Oregon state capitol grounds in Salem last Tuesday found scores of yellow-faced bumble bees (Bombus vosnesenskii) working the anemones and purple coneflowers.

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