Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Bohart Museum's Lepidoptera collections, shows visitors how to spread the wings of a butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Curator Jeff Smith: Spreading the Wings of Butterflies

September 23rd, 2024
Do you know how to spread the wings of a butterfly specimen? It's not as easy as it looks, but entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Bohart Museum of Entomology's Lepidoptera collection, makes it look easy. If you attend the Bohart Museum open house, set from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept.
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UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey directed the Bohart Museum of Entomology for 34 years. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Remembering Richard 'Doc' Bohart

September 20th, 2024
The date of Sept. 28 is significant. It's the birthday anniversary of noted entomologist Richard "Doc" Bohart (1913-2007), founder of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis.
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Mason Walline won second place in the UC Davis Young Scholars Program "Summer Slam" (Elevator Pitch or short-version), competing with some 35 other students. (Photo by Ching-Jung Lin)
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They Spent Their Summer Doing Research in a UC Davis Nematology Lab

September 19th, 2024
It's great to see two high school seniors spend their summer doing research in a UC Davis nematology lab as young scholars in the UC Davis Young Scholars Program (YSP) YSP is a six-week summer residential program that introduces several dozen high-achieving high school students to original research...
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A monarch butterfly gliding over a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola on Sept. 17 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Wings Up! Let's Go!

September 18th, 2024
Wings up! Let's go! The monarch fall migration is underway. "Unlike most other insects in temperate climates, monarch butterflies cannot survive a long cold winter. Instead, they spend the winter in roosting spots," explains Monarch Watch.
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A female monarch nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotunifola, in a Vacaville garden at noon, Sept. 17, 2024. At left is a territorial male longhorned bee, probably Melissodes agilis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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A Monarch Kind of Day

September 17th, 2024
What we've been waiting for all season... A migratory monarch butterfly fluttered into our Vacaville garden at noon today (Tuesday, Sept. 17) and nectared on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. Then she treated us to a butterfly ballet.
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