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.

Following the Trail of Ants

May 11, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When the ants come marching in, Andrea Lucky will be right there. Ant specialist Andrea Lucky, who will receive her doctorate in entomology on June 10 from UC Davis, will speak on the evolutionary history of ants on Wednesday, May 12 in 122 Briggs, UC Davis.

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Wild About Wild Radish

May 10, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Honey bees are wild about the wild radish. It's not an invasive weed to them. You'll see bees foraging among stands of wild radish along roadsides, pastures and other disturbed areas.

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A Taste of Honey

May 7, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When the Antioch Charter Academy, a middle school in Contra Costa County, toured the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis on Tuesday, May 4, they learned all about honey bees and native bees.

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A Honey of a Plant

May 6, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's not the prettiest of plants. It looks somewhat like a thistle. No matter. The honey bees love it. Lacy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), a leggy three-foot plant with clusters of light blue to purple flowers, attracts not only honey bees but syrphid flies, bumbles bees and other pollinators.

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An Entomologist and an Artist

May 5, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If youre a first-year graduate student in entomology, you spend much of your time buried in books or conferring with your major professor. Emily Bzdyk, who is pursuing her doctorate in entomology at UC Davis, does that, too--and more. She's heavily involved in art.

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