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.

DEDICATION--Entomologist Bruce Hammock,a distinguished professor at UC Davis, confers with a researcher at a recent meeting of the Entomological Society of America. Hammock holds a joint appointment in Cancer Research with the UC Davis Medical Center. He directs the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Program on the UC Davis campus, as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Training Program in Biotechnology, and the NIEHS Combined Analytical Laboratory.(Photo by K

A Sense of Urgency

February 3, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's a sense of urgency.

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HONEY BEE ON DAPHNE--The daphne is known for its scented flowers--but beware those poisonous berries. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

No Pork Barrel Politics Here

February 2, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Honey bee insurance buzzed into the news Feb. 1 when Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appeared on the CBS Show, "Face the Nation" and blasted the state of the economy and President Obama's economic stimulus plan.

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PERFECT CAKE FOR AN ENTOMOLOGIST--What's a perfect birthday cake for an insect scientist? One with bugs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bug Stops Here

January 30, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Its Friday, so it must be Friday lite When youre hosting a birthday party for an entomologist, you have to think bugs. Thats the rule. Its written right there in the Entomological Society of Americas official guidebook, Chapter 10, Page 387, Line 38. (OK, I made that up.

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A hover fly or flower fly, Syrphus opinator, rests on a stem in the Storer Gardens, UC Davis. You'll be seeing more of these hover flies as the weather warms. This photo was taken Saturday, Jan. 24. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Just Hovering

January 29, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's often mistaken for a honey bee. It's not a honey bee. It's a hover fly or flower fly. And this one, hovering around the plants last Saturday in the Storer Gardens at the University of California, Davis, looked like a Syrphus opinator to me.

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TENDING BEES--Michael "Kim" Fondrk of UC Davis tends his bees in a Dixon almond orchard. This photo appeared in The IPM Practitioner. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Well Said

January 28, 2009

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

UC Davis bee specialists were well represented in a recent edition of The IPM Practitioner, which landed on our desk last week. The edition, devoted to Pesticides and Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder, includes four photos from the UC Davis Department of Entomology.

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