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.

Polyester Bee

June 16, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Ever heard of a polyester bee? We encountered a plasterer or "polyester" bee on a recent trip to Bodega Bay.

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Eager for Escallonia

June 15, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Three little words can help us determine what to plant in a bee friendly garden: "attractive to bees." Escallonia, a fast-growing evergreen shrub often planted as a hedge or screen, is indeed attractive to bees. Bees work the blossoms like there's no tomorrow--and no colony collapse disorder.

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'The Ladybug Shrub'

June 14, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Our Artemisia, a silvery-leafed shrub bordering our bee friendly garden, looks quite orange and black these days. It's not for lack of water or some exotic disease. It's the ladybug (aka lady beetle) population. If you look closely, you'll see eggs, larvae and pupae and the adults.

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Acrobatic Bees

June 11, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Talk about agility. When you watch a honey bee foraging, it's a lesson in aerial acrobatics. She glides to her target flower, touching down gracefully and accurately. As she gathers nectar, she's vertical, horizontal, upside down and right side up again.

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Everybody Out of the Pool

June 10, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's raining bumble bees in our pool. Yellow-faced bumble bees (Bombus vosnesenskii). And honey bees (Apis mellifera), too. While nectaring lavender, catmint, tower of jewels, sedum and other plants, some of the foragers land in our pool. Talk about no depth perception.

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