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)

UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey (center), director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, thanks UC Davis biology lab manager and UC Davis alumna Ivana Li (far left), who catered the party. Also pictured (from left) Professor Fran Keller of Folsom Lake College, postdoctoral researcher Severyn Korneyev and his wife, artist Kristina Kernytska, UC Davis alumna Brittany Kohler and Tabatha Yang, Bohart education and outreach coordinator. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

No Predation at Bohart Museum of Entomology's Pre-Halloween Party

October 31, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you attended the Bohart Museum of Entomology's private party, hosted by the Bohart Museum Society for its members and friends, you witnessed a praying mantis, a dragonfly, a honeybee, a monarch butterfly and a horse fly all getting along fabulously.

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Two female praying mantes, Stagmomantis limbata, encounter one another on a potted plant in Vacaville. (Cell phone image by Mike Castro)

'This Hanging Pot Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us!'

October 30, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"This hanging potted plant ain't big enough for both of us!" That's what a female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, seemed to be warning when she encountered another female on "her" hanging potted plant. So, how do you beat the competition? You defeat 'em and then you eat 'em.

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A jumping spider stares at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Treat for the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day

October 27, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Trick or treat? Treat, please, says this jumping spider. It's time to jump in to help the 13th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day crowdunding project. It's a Super Science Day to be held Saturday, Feb. 10 on the UC Davis campus. It's a free and family friendly event.

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A monarch butterfly nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Got a Question About Monarch Butterflies? Bohart Open House on Nov. 4

October 26, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Want to talk to a scientist about monarch butterflies? Then you'll want to attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Saturday, Nov. 4 from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. Scientists will be there to answer your questions.

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This is a Calisoga spider that Rodrigo Monjaraz-Ruedas will discuss at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar on Oct. 30. (Photo by arachnologist Marshal Hedin, San Diego State University)

Gotta Love Those Spiders

October 25, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Gotta love those spiders! What, you don't? They scare you? And you scream? Fear not. Arachnologists will set the record straight. (Maybe not your scream, though!) Just in time for Halloween, the next UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar will be on spiders.

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