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.

Svastra obliqua expurgata (Cockerell) leaves the flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Carrying a Lot of 'Baggage'

August 19, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If she were boarding an airline, she'd be charged double for baggage. But she didn't and she wasn't. She's a pollen-packed sunflower bee enjoying our sunflower. Not a honey bee but a sunflower bee. A native bee.

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Culex quinquefasciatus, the Southern house mosquito, finishes feeding on non-DEET treated skin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Secret's Out

August 18, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

We know it works, but how? Just how does DEET work? Does it jam the senses of a mosquito? Does it mask the smell of the host? You spray the chemical repellent on your arm and thankfully, those darn skeeters leave you alone.

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Mediterranean fruit fly (Photo by Jack Kelly Clark)

Medfly Wars

August 15, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The war is overagain, wrote reporter Pat Brennan of the Orange County Register in a news article published Aug. 14. Brennan was referring to the war against the Mediterranean fruit fly, a tiny pest that targets some 260 crops.

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This male carpenter bee (Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex Smith NB) visits salvia (sage). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

If I Were a Carpenter...Bee

August 14, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

I've got black bumblebees buzzing around our backyard like crazy, the caller said. They're loud. Very loud. They're dive-bombing and scaring the cat and dog. I've never seen anything like this before. The unwelcome visitors were not bumblebees. They were carpenter bees.

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The Sting

August 13, 2008

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Ouch! So, you've been stung by a bee. If you're a beekeeper, an occasional sting is a natural part of beekeeping. UC Davis apiculturist Eric Mussen says that the average beekeeper may be stung approximately 3000 times a year.

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