Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay

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UC ANR is renovating its website. 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/blogcore/archive.cfm

A redfemured spotted orbweaver, Neoscona domiciliorum, visiting a pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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How Many Spiders Have You Saved Today?

March 14, 2024

It's National Save-a-Spider Day. I did not save a spider today. I did not save one yesterday, either. Or the day before. That's because I did not see any that needed saving. I frequently see them in our pollinator garden, however, and I always stop to take their image. Nationaltoday.

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UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Art Shapiro. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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UC Davis Students Video Their Impressions of Emeriti Presentations

March 13, 2024

What a great idea! When UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology organized and hosted an emeriti celebration honoring professors who recently transitioned to emeriti, he didn't stop when the presentations ended.

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Still Time to Register for the Wetlands Symposium on Sunday, March 17

March 12, 2024

There's still time to register to attend the symposium, Tule and Cattail: A Tale of the Marsh Economy and Its Role in Human Health and Wellbeing, set for 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday, March 17 in Ballroom B of the UC Davis Conference Center, located at 550 Alumni Lane. The event is free and family friendly.

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UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal (left), organizer and host of the emeriti celebrations, introduces UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Art Shapiro, known as "the butterfly guru."

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Art Shapiro: 'Using Butterflies to Understand Biotic Responses to Climate Change'

March 11, 2024

The crowd at the recent UC Davis emeriti celebration listened closely to the presentation delivered by butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus, who has been monitoring butterfly populations in Central California since 1972.

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A walking stick switches to another hand during the recent Bohart Museum of Entomology open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Hands Down or Hands Up, They're Favorites

March 8, 2024

Hands down, or hands up, those walking sticks in the Bohart Museum of Entomology's live petting zoo are favorites among children and adults alike. The walking sticks, or stick insects, belong to the order Phasmatodea.

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