Bug Squad

A daily (M-F) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008 and about the wonderful world of insects and those who study them. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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A western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, foraging on a Myoporum at Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Bees, Wasps and Flies: Oh, My!

December 4, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Bees, wasps, flies, oh, my!Many non-insect enthusiasts often misidentify insects. A honey bee become a fly, a wasp becomes a bee, and a fly becomes a wasp or bee.So organizers of the Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent open house on  "Bees and Their Mimics" helped set the record straight…
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Malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. (Photo by Anton Cornel, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology)
Bug Squad: Article

Congrats to Rithika!

December 3, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Congrats to Rithica! It's so great to see young scientists excel!Rithika Senthilkumar, an undergraduate research scholar in the UC Davis Vector Genetics Laboratory (VGL), School of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded a highly competitive 2025 Promega D.O.O.R.S. (Development of Our Research…
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Joe Tauzer in the apiary at Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Today Is Giving Day: How to Be a Part of 'The Hive'

December 2, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Today (Tuesday) is Giving Day.Let's give to the honey bees. Or, rather, let's "give BACK" to the bees. Honey bees pollinate about one-third of our food supply, including fruits, vegetables and nuts. They also provide us with honey, beeswax and other products.To us, giving to the bees means giving…
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Queen bee and workers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Honoring the Memory of 'Honey Bee Guru' Eric Mussen

December 1, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 They are a special group of people--the people who receive the California State Beekeepers' Association's Eric Mussen Distinguished Service Award, launched in 2015.Eric Mussen (1944-2022), who served for 38 years as the UC Cooperative Extension apiculturist and member of the UC Davis Department of…
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Jeff Smith's micro moth project. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

What a Micro Moth!

November 28, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis,  has just finished spreading the wings of a moth that has a 4mm wingspan."I've been concentrating for months on spreading our huge backlog of field pinned…
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