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.

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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HONEY BEE at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, samples honey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Not the Honey!

January 5, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

How ironic. We recently wrote about Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists training honey bees to detect explosives. It works this way: they harness bees and place them in little scientific containers. When the bees detect the scent of explosives, they stick out their tongues.

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MORMON CRICKET, courtesy of Nathan Bailey of UC Riverside.

All About Crickets

January 4, 2010

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, launches its winter noonhour seminar series on Wednesday, Jan. 6, crickets will be first in line.

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