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.

The crane fly is sometimes called a mosquito hawk or a gollywhopper.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gollywhoppers in Love

September 2, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

He didn't bring her flowers. They were already sharing a sunflower leaf. He didn't bring her candy. They'd already dined on nectar. It was Labor Day and the two crane flies looked quite friendly in our bee friendly garden. More than friendly. I think they were in love.

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Light brown apple moth, female. (Photo courtesy of David Williams, principal scientist, Perennial Horticulture, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, Australia.)

Ain't No Moths on Me

September 1, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Bam! LBAM is back in the news. The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced Aug. 29 that it has established a 19-square-mile quarantine straddling portions of two counties after the light brown apple moth (LBAM) was found July 23 in Napa County and Aug. 10 in Sonoma County.

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Xena the Warrior Princess is a feline entomologist. She specializes in butterflies and sphinx moths. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Big on Butterflies

August 29, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Our cat is an entomologist. She has no formal training in the science of insects, but she can catch insects with the best of 'em. Plus, her credentials include a butterfly mark on her leg. Xena the Warrior Princess is a rescue cat.

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A praying mantis snares a pipevine swallowtail butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Let Us Prey

August 28, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Robert Bugg saw it first. That's entomologist Robert L. Bugg. Bugg, who received his doctorate in entomology at UC Davis, does research on the biological control of insect pests; cover crops; and restoration ecology. And he saw it first. Look, he said.

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A California lady beetle, aka ladybug, spreads her wings to dry after a near-drowning in a swimming pool. The lady beetle is a beneficial insect. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Fly Away Home

August 27, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

We netted the floundering California lady beetle (Coccinella californica) aka "lady bug," from our swimming pool. She didn't look like the familiar lady beetle, reddish orange with black spots. One spot was all she had. And little life left.

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