Bug Squad

The Sting. (c) Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A feral honey bee colony (now gone) in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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A Presidential Love of Bees: From 'Bee Houses' to 'Bee Trees'

February 19, 2024
Today, on Presidents' Day, let's buzz back in history to our first President and his love of honey bees. Picture this: George Washington (Feb. 22, 1732-Dec. 14, 1799) is eating hoecakes with honey, and adding honey to his tea, something that historians say he did every day.
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Bohart associate and entomologist, Nazzy Pakpour, PhD, author of "Please Don't Bite Me: Insects that Buzz, Bite and Sting," greets guests at the Bohart Museum. In back are Bohart director Jason Bond (right) conversing with Brennen Dyer, collections manager. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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At the Bohart: Life Is Better With Bugs

February 16, 2024
They came. They saw. They held out their hands. Hands? Yes, to hold Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects (walking sticks). The Bohart Museum of Entomology greeted some 1400 visitors during the 13th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, an event held Feb.
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A syrphid fly forages on an Arctotis "Pink Sugar" African daisy in Vacaville. Note the raindrops on the blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Pink Sugar and a Syrphid

February 15, 2024
Who doesn't like "Pink Sugar?" No, not the sweetener. The brilliantly colored Arctotis "Pink Sugar," also known as a pink African daisy.
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Three lady beetles, aka ladybugs, form a Leaning Tower of Pisa on the UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Lady Beetles, Unite!

February 14, 2024
That lady beetle, aka ladybug, that landed on the shoe of San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk just before the NFL championship game, apparently didn't show up at the Super Bowl. The 49'ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, but what a great battle it was.
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Ready to greet the crowds are (from left) Emma Kraft, undergraduate intern; Nick Latina, doctoral student, Plant Pathology; Shahid Siddique, associate professor and principal investigator; Alison Blundell, doctoral candidate, Plant Pathology; Pallavi Shakya, doctoral candidate, Plant Pathology; Bardo Castro, postdoctoral fellow; Veronica Casey, doctoral student, Entomology; and Ching-Jung Lin, doctoral candidate, Plant Pathology. (Photo courtesy of the Siddique lab)
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Showcasing Animal and Plant Parasitic Nematodes

February 13, 2024
Nematologists answered scores of questions at the 13th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Day, a "Super Science Day" held Feb. 10. The Nematode Collection, showcased in the Katherine Esau Science Hall, drew hundreds of visitors wanting to know more about the organism commonly known as "roundworm.
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