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.

WHILE one male carpenter bee (Xylocopa tabaniformis) nectars on sage, another male attempts to scare him away. Male carpenter bees are very territorial. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Two Is Not Company

May 26, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You rarely see two male adult carpenter bees in the same photo. They are very aggressive and territorial. While they're waiting for females to arrive, they chase all prospective suitors away. Unlike the females, however, they can't sting.

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ROSE CURCULIO lays its eggs inside a yellow rose bud. Note the holes in the rose bud. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garevy)

I Never Promised You...a Rose Weevil

May 25, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, There's gotta be a little rain sometimes. --Joe South And maybe a rose curculio or rose weevil.

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SYRPHID, aka flower fly or hover fly, lands on a cosmos. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Caught on the Cosmos

May 22, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Cosmos flowers are somewhat like Libras. They balance. In fact, the word, "cosmos," means "harmony" or "ordered universe" in Greek. Plant cosmos and you'll soon be enjoying colorful flowers that belong to the Asteraceae family, which also includes sunflowers, daisies and asters.

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UC DAVIS RESEARCHER Robbin Thorp with a computer screen showing Franklin's bumble bee. He captured this image on a California poppy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Goodbye, Franklin's Bumble Bee?

May 21, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Let's have a show of hands. How many of you have seen Franklin's bumble bee in the wild? Never HEARD of it, you say? Well, you probably will never SEE it, either. Bumble bee experts think it may be extinct.

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BEE PROJECT--Bay Area resident Sheridan Miller raised $733 to help bee research at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Because Sheridan Cares

May 20, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Sheridan Miller's gift to UC Davis for honey bee research was both generous and thoughtful. The 11-year-old Bay Area resident raised $733 for the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

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