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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Assorted micro-moths that Jeff Smith has curated. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

This Super-Tiny Fairy Longhorn Moth Has Quite a History

August 27, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 If you're accustomed to seeing large moths with a 10-inch wingspan, you won't believe this micro moth.Entomologist Jeff Smith, volunteer curator of the prized Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, has just curated a metallic Papua New Guinea (PNG) moth with a 1.4…
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Crab spider nails a hoverfly, a yellowjacket mimic. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Disguise Didn't Work

August 26, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 If you look like a yellowjacket but you’re really a fly, that doesn’t mean a predator can’t grab you and eat you.Take the case of a crab spider lying in wait on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. Our very alert spider knows exactly where to practice its ambushing…
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Microscopes from the California Master Beekeeper Program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Addison to the Bee: 'Be Safe'

August 25, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 When the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP) interacts with children at various events, they hope to make a difference.At the Vacaville Museum Guild's annual Children's Party. held recently in the Vacaville Museum on Buck Avenue, Vacaville, they did just that.We just received a…
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UC Davis student Riley Hoffman at the 2025 Biodiversity Museum Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

We Have a Date! UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day

August 22, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 If you've been wondering when the 15th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day will take place, wonder no more!The committee has voted. The popular event, a "Super Science Day" that's free and family friendly,  is set for Saturday, Feb. 21, so mark your calendars.It's about a day of discovery…
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Monarch in flight, heading toward narrow-leafed milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Second Monarch Arrives

August 21, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Too good to be true!What did I deserve to see--and photograph--a second monarch in our Vacaville pollinator garden this year? The first arrived July 15. The second, Aug. 21. Both were females laying eggs.But there she was. At 10 a.m. today, this majestic female fluttered in, heading straight for the…
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