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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Primary Image
Flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Just Buggin' Ya

November 5, 2014
If there's ever a time to start "buggin' someone,' that would be at the Entomological Society of America's 62nd annual meeting, set Nov. 16-19 in the Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Ore. There will be plenty of people to bug.
View Article
Primary Image
UC Davis entomology undergraduate student Christine Melvin models the monarch wings on display at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

A Gathering of the Insect Tribe: Fusing Art with Science

November 4, 2014
Ready to make some human-insect connections? Cultural entomologist Emmet Brady, host of the Insect News Network, a Davis-based program on radio station KDRT 95.7 FM, is planning something special on Friday, Nov. 14 in Nevada City and you're all invited.
View Article
Primary Image
A mighty male Monarch on the move. On its way to one of coastal California's overwintering sites, it stops to sip from flight fuel (nectar) from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Marvels of Migration

November 3, 2014
Lately we've been fascinated by the migrating Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) heading to coastal California and central Mexico for their overwintering sites. For years we've marveled at the migrating whales passing Point Reyes as we stood glued to our binoculars.
View Article
Primary Image
Jumping spider eyes the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Spiders? Scary? Spooky?

October 31, 2014
"Look, there's a spider!" A sure-fire way to frighten arachnophobics is the very mention of "spiders"--especially on Halloween. Spiders aren't insects but arthropods, order Araneae. They have eight legs, which according to some, are seven legs too many.
View Article