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.

The Hunter and the Hunted

May 18, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The crab spider is a clever and skillful hunter. Last Sunday we spotted a camouflaged crab spider (family Thomisidae) lying flat on a sedum. The spider's pink and white abdomen blended so well into the pink and white blossoms that you couldn't tell where the abdomen ended and where the flower began.

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Killer in Our Midst

May 17, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

There's a killer in our midst, and a chemical ecologist will tell us all about it. The killer: thousand cankers disease. The victim: native black walnuts. The speaker: Steve Seybold.

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Nasty Little Parasites

May 14, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you have a bee hive, you most likely have mites. Varroa mites, those blood-sucking parasites that latch onto the brood and also thrive on the adult bees, can weaken and destroy a hive.

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In Mint Condition

May 13, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Our catmint is in mint condition. So is the cat. The catmint (Nepeta mussinii) is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae or Labiatae). It's a perennial with two-lipped blue or blue-violet flowers that blooms from spring through fall. It grows so well that it can become invasive. Just like the cat.

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Itsy Bitsy--Not!

May 12, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It wasn't an itsy bitsy spider. And it didn't climb up the water spout. It was climbing all over the tower of jewels, ready to stalk and pounce on prey.

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