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.

This is a bee nesting block built to attract native pollinators. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Build It And They Will Come

September 9, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Build it and they will come. Baseball's Field of Dreams? No, a bee nesting block. Think "bee condo." It's an artificial nesting site made of wood and drilled with different-sized holes and depths to accommodate the diversity of native pollinators. Often the bee block is nailed to a fence post.

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This floral visitor is a cuckoo bee, "probably the genus Triepeolus (maybe Epeolus) and probably a male," said UC Davis emeritus professor Robbin Thorp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!

September 8, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

We've all heard of the cuckoo clock. And most of us have heard of the cuckoo bird (Cuculus canorus), which lays its eggs in the nest of birds of other species. But the cuckoo bee? Yes, there is a cuckoo bee. The female lays her eggs in the nests of other solitary nesting bees. They resemble wasps.

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A female carpenter bee (Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex) pierces the corolla of salvia to rob the nectar. (Identified by Robbin Thorp, UC Davis emeritus professor of entomology.) (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

I've Been Robbed!

September 5, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Robber at work. No, this isn't a bank heist or a gas station hold-up or a home invasion. A carpenter bee is slitting the sides of salvia (sage) to steal the nectar. Floral larceny! Book 'em, Danno! Carpenter bees are nectar robbers.

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A female varroa mite on a drone (male bee). The mite is the reddish-brown parasite on the bee's thorax. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Mighty Mite

September 4, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's a mighty mite and it's causing beekeepers fits. The varroa mite (see photo below) is an external parasite that attacks honey bees. It sucks blood from the adults (apparently preferring drones, the male bees) and from the brood (immature bees).

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Fran Keller is an enthusiastic entomologist and an outstanding teacher. Plus, she's an accomplished artist, illustrator, and a nature and insect photographer.

Teacher Extraordinaire

September 3, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Okay, be honest. If you were attending class at 7:30 a.m., could you get excited about flies? No? How about the gender differences? Still no? You would if Mary Frances Fran Keller were there teaching you. You won't find anyone more enthusiastic about entomology than Fran Keller.

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