UC Davis doctoral candidate Grace Horne, co-chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's Picnic Day Committee, holding a hickory horned devil caterpillar (Citheronia regalis). Photo courtesy of UC Davis

DAVIS, CA (MPG) - At the 112th annual campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day April 18, bugs are not only invited, but escorted. 

The “stars of the show” are the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology’s line-up of cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes, ants, bees, tarantulas, stick insects, hornworms, lady beetles, nematodes and more at Briggs Hall. Favorite activities include the traditional cockroach races and maggot art.

Heading the student-faculty entomology committee this year are UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) member Grace Horne, a doctoral candidate in the lab of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, associate professor, and Marshall McMunn, assistant professor of teaching.

New this year will be origami insect art, coordinated by McMunn; and a wetlands restoration exhibit headed by medical entomologist and geneticist Geoffrey Attardo, associate professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology.

The entomological activities, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., will all take place in or around Briggs Hall: in Rooms 122 and 158; in the courtyard; and on the lawn. 

EGSA will be selling student-designed T-shirts and stickers near the entrance of Briggs. The official EGSA Picnic Day 2026 shirt, titled “Product of Migration,” features migratory insects and was primarily illustrated by Veronica Casey, a doctoral candidate in Shahid Siddique’s nematology lab, according to EGSA treasurer Briley Mullen, a Ph.D. student in Ian Grettenberger’s lab.

Mullen added that the design was a collaborative effort with Veronica El Robeck, a second-year entomology Ph.D. student in Professor Chris Barker’s lab, and Carla-Cristina “CC” Edwards, a doctoral candidate in the Attardo lab. The shirt comes in light blue and will be available as both a T-shirt and a long-sleeve. The design will also be featured on stickers sold at the EGSA booth.

The second-place winning T-shirt in the EGSA contest was “Picnic Day with Pals,” designed by Olivia Lopez, a first-year entomology PhD student in the lab of Professor Fumika Hamada of the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior.  The emblem is also a sticker.

EGSA sells T-shirts and stickers year-round on its website at https://ucdavisentgrad.square.site/.

The list of activities and events is available at entnem.ucdavis.edu/news/uc-davis-picnic-day-lets-go-bugs.