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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. 

HONEY BEE GENETICIST Robert Page is a newly elected member of the oldest scientific academy of science, the Germany Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, he's now a professor and administrator at Arizona State University.

A 'Page' of History

June 8, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr. is in good company. Good company, indeed. Think scientists Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin. Page, who received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 1980 and then became a noted geneticist at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.
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A FLY on a cactus flower: an almost ethereal image. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Fly by Day

June 5, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey loves flies. So, every chance I get, I shoot an image for him. Many of the images wind up in his classroom PowerPoint presentations. "Keep 'em coming," he says. So, I shoot flies. Yes, indeed. I shoot flies. No, I am not a candidate for a 12-step program.
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WORKER BEES keep the hive humming. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Calamity of CCD

June 4, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Colony collapse disorder (CCD), the mysterious phenomonen characterized by honey bees abandoning their hives, is still with is, and the cause is still mysterious.
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CAUGHT IN FLIGHT, a male carpenter bee heads for the lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

To Catch a Carpenter Bee

June 3, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
To catch a carpenter bee... The carpenter bees (Xylocopa tabaniformis) that nectar the sage, lavender, catmint and coral bells in our bee friendly garden move fast. How fast? As fast as a buzz. They buzz into a blur and then back into a buzz. Oh, but there are ways to capture their images.
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