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.

BEE BREEDER-GENETICIST Kim Fondrk of UC Davis tends his bees in a Dixon, Calif. almond orchard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

White Gold

January 12, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Almond pollination season is approaching, and with it, come concerns. "A concern each year...is how many honey bee visitation hours occurred during bloom," writes Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen in his newly published edition of from the UC Apiaries.

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TROPICAL ARTHROPOD ECOLOGIST Steve Yanoviak, shown here in a rainforest canopy in Peru, will speak on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at a UC Davis Entomology seminar. Yanoviak is with the Department of Biology, University of Arkansas. (Photo courtesy of Steve Yanoviak)

Prime Time for Learning

January 11, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The noonhour seminars sponsored every Wednesday through March 10 by the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, are drawing widespread interest. And delightedly so. Many faculty, students and staff make it a point to attend the 12:10 to 1 p.m.

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HONEY BEE foraging in a patch of asters at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Singing The Blues

January 8, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Talk about singing the blues. Specifically, the noted "Blue King" (Aster amellus), a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae. This is one flower that deserves its own chorus. At the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

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UC DAVIS ENTOMOLOGIST James Carey believes that the light brown apple moth has long been established in California and cannot be eradicated. He is featured in the Jan. 8 edition of Science Magazine in a NewsFocus piece headlined "From Medfly to Moth: Raising a Buzz of Dissent." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Medfly and Moth Wars

January 7, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

James R. Carey is used to dissent. The entomology professor at the University of California, Davis, fervently believes that the Mediterranean fruit fly and light brown apple moth, two exotic and invasive pests, have long been established in California and cannot be eradicated.

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HONEY BEES foraging on sedum in a photo taken in September 2009. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee Healthy

January 6, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Bee health. So crucial. The January newsletter published by the eXtension.

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