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.

MOURNFUL DUSKY-WING butterfly nectaring lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

E. T., Where Are You?

September 1, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Call it the "Mournful Dusky-Wing" or the "Sad Dusky-Wing." Call it what you will, but the Erynnis tristis, a member of the skipper butterfly family (Hesperiidae), is neither mournful nor sad when it's nectaring lavender.

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HONEY BEE pokes around in Autumn Joy sedum, currently a tight cluster of broccoli-like buds. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

See 'em on the Sedum

August 31, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's no secret that bees like sedum. The Autumn Joy sedum (family Crassulaceae) growing in our garden is still a tight cluster of broccoli-like buds--not ready for prime time. But don't tell the honey bees that.

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A MALE Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutullus) glides into a patch of ookow or wild hyacinth. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tiger on the Ookow

August 28, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Oo-laa! Ookow! What a treat to see the Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutullus) gliding into a patch of ookow (Dichelostemma congestum), also known as wild hyacinth. A recent outing to Healdsburg, Sonoma County, found the tiger on the ookow.

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HIGH HONOR--UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey receives the "Outstanding Service to Beekeeping" award at the Western Apicultural Society conference from president Eric Mussen, Extension apiculturist. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Tip of the Veil

August 27, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

A tip of the bee veil to Susan Cobey. Cobey, bee breeder-geneticist and manager of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, has won the 2009 Outstanding Service to Beekeeping award from the Western Apicultural Society (WAS).

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TWO ON A SUNFLOWER--A honey bee (Apis mellifera) and a female sweat bee (Halictus ligatus) share a sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sharing a Sunflower

August 26, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you're in the right spot at the same time, you may get a double bonus: a non-native bee and a native bee on a native plant.

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