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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Speaker delivering a talk. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Who's Speaking at ENT Seminars?

December 11, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Who's speaking at the winter seminars hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology?Marshall McMunn, coordinator of the seminars for the 2025-26 academic year, has announced the "spring list."All seminars will take place at 12:10 p.m. on Wednesdays  in 122 Briggs Hall. They also…
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Cluster of overwintering monarchs.

Radio-Tagging the Migratory Monarchs

December 10, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 What exciting research--fitting overwintering monarch butterflies with the newly developed ULTRALIGHT solar-powered radio tags to monitor their movements.Senior conservation biologist Emma Pelton of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation today announced in a news release that “Scientists are…
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Bumble bee on a pansy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Want to Participate in a Statewide BioBlitz?

December 9, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Science matters. Science beckons. Science fulfills.The California All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (CalATBI) is organizing a 2026 Student Insect Collection BioBlitz, a statewide community science effort to document our state's biodiversity.Organizers related:The goal: "To document California’s insect…
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Flameskimmer dragonfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'The Dragonflies Are In!'

December 8, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Some folks wear their heart on their sleeves.Others wear a dragonfly on their chest.Newly arrived in the Bohart Museum of Entomology gift shop are dragonfly T-shirts."The dragonflies came in!" announced Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart Museum. "They look great." …
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Drone fly nectaring on Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Drone Is a Drone Is a Drone

December 5, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 It's "Friday Fly Day" but we haven't seen a drone fly (Eristalis tenax) for at least a month.It's a member of the hover fly family, Syrphidae, but it manages to appear almost everywhere as...a... bee. A drone is a drone is a drone. A bee is a bee is a bee. (Thank you, Gertrude Stein, who penned "A…
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