'Bugging out' at the annual Hokie Bugfest

A Virginia Tech student volunteers helps a Bugfest attendee with making a thumbprint insect pin. — A member of Orion, the science learning-living community at Virginia Tech, helps a Bugfest attendee make a Build a Bug & Bug Thumbprint Pin. Photo by Clay Blue for Virginia Tech.

Hokie BugFest 2025 celebrated the fun and exciting science of entomology, and the Virginia Tech tradition of learning and discovery, through outreach and engagement.

The event highlights an ongoing youth education program hosted by the Virginia Tech Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Virginia Cooperative Extension's 4-H program, and the department's student-run professional organization, the W. B. Alwood Entomological Society. The Fralin Life Sciences Institute serves as an event sponsor.

The Institute's Education and Outreach group teamed up with the Orion, a science living-learning community to host a Build a Bug & Bug Thumbprint Pin station, while the Invasive Species Collaborative hosted a booth in collaboration with Biological Control Lab, complete with the ever-popular SPLAT! tree.

Since its inception in 1966, Alwood Society members have engaged over 30,000 children by hosting department tours, visiting schools, and supporting special events like the Hokie BugFest.