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.

A pollen-packed honey bee curls up in a pomegranate blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Queen of the Crops

October 7, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

We often hear of "cream of the crop," but the honey bee is the "queen of the crops." Honey bees are crucial to Californias $32 billion agriculture industry.

View Article

The praying mantis, camouflaged, lies in wait. Hmmm, is that camera edible?(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What's for Dinner?

October 6, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The praying mantis isn't at all concerned about culinary choices. It doesn't worry about who's coming to dinner, only that dinner will come. This aggressive, predatory insect will eat just about anything it can get its claws on, entomologists agree.

View Article

See the ceramic hive on this sign at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility? The black hole leads to a real hive, located in back of the sign. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Secret's Out

October 3, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The secret's out. Or, rather, the secret's in. Inside. A number of years ago, UC Davis entomologist Diane Ullman created a ceramic sign outside the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, located on Bee Biology Road, west of the UC Davis campus.

View Article

A honey bee checks out a minute black scavenger fly at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bee and the Fly

October 2, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey is a genius, to be sure. Show him a fly and he'll tell you exactly what it is and what it's all about. I shot this photo at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. The honey bee looked huge and the fly, tiny.

View Article

The honey bee, resplendent here with silvery wings, is gold to the global economy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What Price Pollination?

October 1, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What are insect pollinators worth to the global economy? Well, it's a lot less than the Wall Street bailout...er...rescue plan. Recent research published in the journal Ecological Economics reveals just how important insect pollinators are.

View Article