Bug Squad

The Bug Squad blog, by Kathy Keatley Garvey of the University of California, Davis, is a daily (Monday-Friday) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008. It is about the wonderful world of insects and the entomologists who study them. Blog posts are archived at https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/index.cfm. The story behind "The Sting" is here: https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7735.

A white-lined sphinx moth, Hyles lineata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Where to Meet Some Lepidopterists and Dipterists--and Learn About Mosquitoes!

July 20, 2023

Moths will grab the spotlight at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house on Saturday, July 22 but besides Lepidopterists (those who study butterflies and moths), attendees can meet and greet dipterists (those who study flies), learn about mosquitoes from the author of a newly published children...

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Entomologist Jeff Smith, the curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum, displays a drawer of tropical butterfly specimens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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'A Night at the Bohart Museum' to Celebrate Moths and Other Insects

July 19, 2023

What are the main differences between moths and butterflies? That's a question frequently asked at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, especially during National Moth Week, which this year takes place July 22-30.

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The UC Davis Shahid Siddique lab excelled at the international Society of Nematologists' 62nd annual meeting, held in Columbus, Ohio. Pictured with Siddique are doctoral students in his lab. From left are Ching-Jung Lin, Veronica Casey, Pallavi Shakya and Alison Coomer Blundell, all award winners.

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Shahid Siddique Lab Shines at International Society of Nematologists' Meeting

July 18, 2023

Congrats to the lab of nematologist Shahid Siddique, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, for excellent presentations at the 62nd annual meeting of the Society of Nematologists (SON), held July 9-14 in Columbus, Ohio: Alison Coomer Blundell, who will be a fourth-year doctoral candidate...

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As temperatures soar, feral honey bees engage in bearding to reduce the heat load inside. These bees are in a sycamore tree on the UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Bee Bearding in California's Excessive Heat

July 17, 2023

Have you read the excessive heat warnings and the guidelines to prevent heat illnesses as triple-digit temperatures hold us hostage in Yolo and Solano counties and elsewhere?. UC Davis Safety Services related this week: Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

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A female sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, heads for a Coreopsis. Both are natives to California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Native Bee, Native Flower, Sunny California

July 14, 2023

Just a day in the life of a native bee on a native flower in native California. Svastra obliqua expurgata, also called "the sunflower bee," absolutely loves Coreoposis californica, sometimes called tickseed. If you were a plant, would you want to be called "tickseed?" Probably not.

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