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 queen bee laying eggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Find the Queen!

August 11, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Question: "Can you find the queen? She's in here with the worker bees and drones. The worker bees are the girls and the drones are the boys." Chlld: "What does the queen look like? Is she wearing a crown?""No, she's wearing a number!"Child:"I see her! There she is! I found her!"Finding the queen…
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Honey bee pollinating strawberry. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Introducing Bees to Children

August 8, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 The UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP) staffed three tables at the Vacaville Museum Guild's annual children's party to introduce "the wonderful world of bees" to children ages 3 to 9.CAMBP members displayed a bee observation hive and encouraged them to "find the queen'; answered…
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Chemical ecologist Jeff Aldrich
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Impact of Life Work of Jeff Aldrich Continues to Unfold

August 7, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 The impact of the life work of renowned chemical ecologist Jeff Aldrich (1949-2025) continues to unfold.Aldrich, a research entomologist at USDA-ARS from 1980 to 2011, who then worked with UC Davis  Department of Entomology and Nematology researchers for a decade, died June 28 at age 75 in Fort…
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Chemical ecologist Jeffrey Aldrich working in Japan in the lab of Walter Leal. (Photo by Walter Leal)
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The Incredible Life of Chemical Ecologist Jeffrey Richard Aldrich

August 6, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Tributes are pouring in for renowned chemical ecologist Jeffrey Richard Aldrich (1949-2025), a longtime researcher at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center,  USDA Agricultural Research Service, who retired in 2011 and then worked with UC Davis researchers for a decade.Aldrich was considered…
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Western yellowjacket in Marin County. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Beware of Yellowjacket Nests

August 5, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Beware of yellowjacket nests in our state parks--and elsewhere, as well!Self-described "Wasp Woman" UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Lynn Kimsey who directed the Bohart Museum of Entomology for 34 years until her retirement last year, continues to field many a question about insects, including…
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