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.

UC Merced assistant professor Fred Wolf uses this graphic to illustrate his research.

Article

Learn about the 'Drinking Drosophila and Drunk Drosophila' at UC Davis Seminar

October 26, 2018

"How do animals filter sensory information from their environment and integrate it with their past experience and their internal states to produce an appropriate behavioral response?" asks Fred Wolf, assistant professor at UC Merced.

View Article

Christian Nansen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, illustrated his research paper, published in PLOS ONE, with this graphic.

Article

Of Skittles and Magnolia Leaves and Mosquito Eggs

October 25, 2018

Quick! Can you think of published research that involves Skittles, magnolia leaves and mosquito eggs?

View Article

A honey bee heads for a lupine blossom. Nectar-living microbes release scents or volatile compounds, too, and can influence a pollinator’s foraging preference, according to UC Davis community ecologist Rachel Vannette, recipient of a Hellman Fellowship. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

UC Davis Community Ecologist Rachel Vannette: Hellman Fellowship to Research Pollinator Microbiomes

October 24, 2018

Congratulations to community ecologist Rachel Vannette, assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology: she was just selected as one of the 11 campus recipients of a Hellman Fellowship grant.

View Article

EGSA members and their award-winning t-shirts: president Brendon Boudinot; EGSA t-shirt coordinator Jill Oberski; and Corwin Parker. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Insect-Inspired Fashions! Compliments of the UC Davis EGSA

October 23, 2018

Talk about insect-inspired fashions! Insects are in.

View Article

Meet the drone fly (Eristalis tenax), often mistaken for a honey bee. Note the one set of wings, large eyes, stubby antennae and a distinguishing "H" on its abdomen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

A Case of Mistaken Identity

October 22, 2018

They can't drain your bank account. They can't open up new credit cards. They can't get medical treatment on your health insurance. But they are identity thieves, nonetheless. Meet the drone fly (Eristalis tenax), often mistaken for a honey bee. Indeed, it's about the size of a honey bee.

View Article