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.

Extension apiculturist Elina Niño examines a frame in the apiary of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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California Honey Festival: Show Me the Honey!

May 1, 2019

Show me the honey! You'll see scores of honey varietals at the third annual California Honey Festival on Saturday, May 4. And you can sample the honey, ask questions, and purchase it--the soul of a field of flowers.

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A robber fly, Ommatius amula, with prey. Today (April 30) is World Robber Day. (Drawing by Charlotte Herbert Alberts.)

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Why You Should Celebrate World Robber Fly Day

April 30, 2019

Quick, do you know what today is? It's World Robber Fly Day! Question is, how are you celebrating it? April 30 is both a momentous and delightful occasion for Charlotte Herbert Alberts, who studies robber flies.

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A honey bee packing blue pollen from the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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A Honey of a Festival on Saturday, May 4

April 29, 2019

In the honey bee colony, you'll see a workforce like no other. You'll see nurse maids, nannies, royal attendants, builders, architects, foragers, dancers, honey tenders, pollen packers, propolis or "glue" specialists, air conditioning and heating technicians, guards, and undertakers.

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A monarch butterfly laying an egg on tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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All Flights Lead to the Butterfly Summit

April 26, 2019

All flights lead to the Butterfly Summit. Road trips, too. Butterfly guru Arthur Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, will speak on "Are Butterflies Heralds of the Insect Apocalypse?" at the third annual Butterfly Summit, an all-day event that begins 10 a.m.

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Doctoral candidate Brendon Boudinot answers questions about insects in the Bug Doctor booth at Briggs Hall. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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The Bug Doctor Is In! Ask Me a Question!

April 25, 2019

The doctor is in. The Bug Doctor, that is. If you attended the 105th annual UC Davis Picnic Day and headed for Briggs Hall, home of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, you encountered a booth lettered with "Bug Doctor" and a sign that read: Ask Me About Insects.

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