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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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CHEMICAL ECOLOGIST Walter Leal works in his lab in the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Blood Banquets

January 22, 2010
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Human blood--it drives mosquitoes wild. Today Marlene Cimmons of the National Science Foundation (NSF) spotlights chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor of entomology, University of California, Davis, on the LiveScience Web site.
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HONEY BEE moves through salvia (sage). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Two Pressing Questions

January 21, 2010
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Its raining in northern California like the proverbial cats and dogs--and all the more reason to think of vacations.
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ENTOMOLOGIST Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, readies for an interview with "Life After People." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

If Bugs Ruled the World...

January 20, 2010
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Can you imagine a world without people? What it would look like? Check out the Life After People series airing on the History Channel.
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MONARCH BUTTERFLY (Danaus plexippus), shown here in the Luther Burbank Gardens, Santa Rosa, is one of the butterflies that Art Shapiro has studied for the last 35 years. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Fleeting Butterflies

January 19, 2010
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's good to see those fluttering butterflies back in the news again. But they are fleeting butterflies.
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BEEKEEPER Elizabeth "Liz" Frost of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis, looks for ants on the tray she's just pulled out. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Unwanted Guests

January 18, 2010
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Pull out the bottom tray (floor) of a beehive and you're likely to see lots of bee droppings, a little pollen, a few mites, a few dead bees and...a few scurrying ants. Ants find a bee hive nice and cozy, especially in the winter as temperatures drop. Beekeeper Elizabeth "Liz" Frost of the Harry H.
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