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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

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. 

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A screen shot from the seminar of apiculturist Juliana Rangel Posada of Texas A&M.

Learning About the Bees and the Nutrition They Need

October 8, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you missed the eagerly anticipated UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar by apiculturist Juliana Rangel Posada, an associate professor at Texas A&M and an international leader in honey bee research, not to worry. Her Oct. 7th seminar was recorded.
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Pretty in pink. A jumping spider on a pink rose in a Vacaville garden peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Happy Arachtober!

October 4, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's October and Arachtober: the month to celebrate spiders and other arachnids. As arachnologists will tell you, arachnids are arthropods that include spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroons.
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Zeroing in on Honey Bees

October 3, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The next seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology promises to be of great interest to bee scientists, beekeepers, and all those who want to learn more about honey bees.
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Thea Schmidt, 4, of Folsom points excitedly to the tenants of the live petting zoo at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

For the Love of Insects

October 2, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
How many kids have you seen running and screaming every time they encounter an insect? Maybe not so much when it's a lady beetle (aka ladybug), or a butterfly.
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