Close-up of one of the bumble bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The three queen bumble bees (Bombus melanopygus) we found buzzing around our porch light the night of Jan. 9 are still very much alive.

Who would have "thunk?"

Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, is caring for them at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road. 

Thorp, who officially retired in 1994, maintains an active research and bee monitoring/identification program based as the Laidlaw facility. He recently co-authored a book on Bumble Bees of North America: An identification Guide (Princeton University Press), to be released in March.

So yesterday photographer/artist Allan Jones of Davis and I checked out "The Lovely Ladies at the Laidlaw."  Yes, they're very much alive.

But it sure was strange on Jan. 9 to see them as as night fliers, or porch-light bumble bees. I figured they were parasitized. I figured that a florid fly, Apocephalus borealis, which lays its eggs in such insects as bumble bees, wasps and honey bees, had nailed them. I figured they'd be goners within a few days.

I hope I'm wrong.

It's long been known that Apocephalus borealis infests bumble bees.  However, Professor John Hafernik of San Francisco State University and his colleagues caused quite a media stir when they discovered that this fly infests honey bees as well. They published their work, "A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly, Apocephalus borealis,"  in PLOS ONE back in January 2012. They revealed that the parasitized, disoriented honey bees  (which they nicknamed "Zombies" or "ZomBees") leave their hives at night and head for the lights.

"After being parasitized by the fly, the bees abandon their hives in what is literally a flight of the living dead to congregate near lights," said Andrew Core of the Hafernik lab.  'When we observed the bees for some time—the ones that were alive—we found that they walked around in circles, often with no sense of direction."

What's next?

Fingers crossed that the three queen bumble bees aren't parasitized. Fingers crossed that they will survive. Fingers crossed that they will continue to be "The Lovely Ladies at the Laidlaw." 

Don't go looking for the first-flight cabbage white butterfly of the year in Yolo, Solano and Sacramento counties.

The beer-for-a-butterfly contest is over.

We have a winner!...drum roll...

Professor Arthur Shapiro!

Shapiro, a distinguished professor in the UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology, again won his own three-county area contest by netting the first-flight cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) of the year at 12:20 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14 in West Sacramento, Yolo County.

Shapiro netted a male on the south slope of the railroad tracks where “I’ve caught at least half of the first-flight cabbage whites.” The temperature was 62 degrees, but soon rose to 70 degrees. 

“I caught it in mid-air with a ballet leap!” Shapiro said, smiling.

“There was a little radish but hardly any vegetation there. It was about 40 or 50 feet from where I got the one last year, about one-fourth  mile west of Harbor Boulevard. It was flying eastward along the edge of the service road.”

The annual contest, which Shapiro launched in 1972, seeks the first-flight cabbage white butterfly of the year in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano. He has won every year except for the three years claimed the championship title.

The contest is all part of Shapiro’s 43-year study of climate and butterfly seasonality. “It is typically one of the first butterflies to emerge in late winter. Since 1972, the first flight has varied from Jan. 1 to Feb. 22, averaging about Jan. 20.” 

“The cabbage white is now emerging a week or so earlier on average than it did 30 years ago here,” Shapiro said. He estimated his 2014 find ranks as "the fifth or sixth earliest since 1972."

Shapiro delivered the butterfly to the Evolution and Ecology office, where it was verified by Sherri Mann and Joe Patrocinio. No one else has submitted an entry.

The professor, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Entomological Society and the California Academy of Sciences,  initially calculated he would find the butterfly either Jan. 17 or 18. “It may have been out Monday (Jan. 13), but I was in Chico delivering a talk to the Northern California Botanists on “What Did Sacramento Valley Butterflies Do Before There Was Yellow Starthistle?” 

While searching for the cabbage white on Tuesday, Shapiro also spotted a small male buckeye butterfly, (Junonia coenia) along the trail, and a mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa), perched on and flying around leafless willows. “That’s the fourth earliest antiopa in the valley ever,” he said.  

Shapiro said he will be celebrating his victory by sharing a pitcher of beer with a friend at an undisclosed Davis venue. “It will be PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) because I get to choose.”

The cabbage white butterfly inhabits vacant lots, fields and gardens where its host plants, weedy mustards, grow. Mustards, however, are late this year, he said, pointing out the drought. “The record for consecutive days without rainfall in the winter here is 44. We’re on the 38th day and I see no chance of rain in sight, so this record will be broken.” However, a "good Pineapple Express," he said, could easily erase the drought.

Now, with the first-flight butterfly caught and in the history/record books, “it is spring because I say so.”

Shapiro maintains a website on butterflies at http://butterfly.ucdavis.edu, where he records the population trends he monitors in Central California.  He and biologist/writer/photographer Tim Manolis co-authored A Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions, published in 2007 by the University of California Press.

Most of us remember the old nursery rhyme, "Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite," and vow to do everything we can to avoid any blood-letting.

Whether we call them "blood suckers," "menace in the mattress," or "human parasites," it's not cool to be bitten by bed bugs.  

The crowd watched in awe as the reddish-brown blood suckers turned from flat to bulging. The insects, Cimex lectularius, are "visually adorable," Wishon said, noting that they are pests but they don't spread diseases. She keeps two colonies in Briggs Hall for research purposes.

Several visitors told of their personal experiences with bed bugs--in their hotels and homes, and in their bedding and baggage. 

Wishon made sure no one took any home. 

For more information on bed bugs, check out the Entomological Society of America (ESA) website on bed bug resources. ESA includes the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM). Another good source is the relatively new University of Florida bed bug site.  

"Despite their name, bed bugs can infest areas other than beds," according to the University of Florida website. "They tend to locate in cracks and crevices, such as behinds baseboards, wall outlets, and wallpaper; between bed joints, slats, and dresser drawers; and along mattress seams and in linens and clothes. Most bed bug infestations occur in the home, along with hotels, dormitories, and cruise ships. Bed bugs easily transfer from one site to another through infested belongings like clothes, suitcases, second-hand furniture, beds, and bedding."

Guest speaker Emmet Brady teaching a class at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Inquiring minds want to know.

At least one inquiring mind wants to know.

Journalist/cultural entomologist Emmet Brady of Davis, who reaches out to bug and non-bug people alike on his Davis-based radio show, "Insect News Network," is hosting his annual Bug-of-the-Year contest through  Jan. 14. You can hear his show Wednesdays from 4-5 p.m. and Fridays from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on KDRT 95.7 FM, Davis.

Last year the Australian Peacock Spider won Brady's contest. A spider? That's perfectly fine. Spiders are not insects but they fit quit well into the "Bug of the Year" candidates. And, they have excellent credentials.

And speaking of peacock spiders, you should check out Gwen Pearson's blog on Charismatic Minifauna: New Species of Peacock Spider Dances for You--and Sex and watch the video of this fascinating spider. Pearson, who holds a doctorate in entomology, initially began blogging as "The Bug Girl." 

Emmet Brady urges everyone to vote, and vote often. Access the vote page here. "You can vote as many times as you like, for as many bugs as you like," Brady says, "but only one per visit, however." 

And the 25 contenders? Drum roll, please:

• Yellow-Headed Soldier Fly
• Green Lynx Spider
• Monarch Butterfly
• Oregon Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee
• Madagascar Sunset Moth
• Salt Marsh Tiger Beetles in Love
• Variegated Meadowhawk Dragonfly
• Orchid Bee
• Tizsa Flower Mayflies
• Golden Spotted Oak Borer
• Long-nosed Fly
• Robobees
• Praying Mantis Sculpture
• Ogre-Faced Spider
• Honey Bee
• Magicicada
• GM Mosquito
• Asian Citrus Psyllid
• T Mirror Spider
• Himalayan Spider
• Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
• The Map Butterfly
• Ant-Mimick Tree Hopper
• Bird-Dropping Spider
• Elephant Hawk-Moth Caterpillar

Brady kindly lists their qualifications. For example, he writes about the honey bee:

"The perennial candidate for the BOTY, the honey bee is perhaps the most important insect to human civilization.  They represent in many ways a pinnacle of invertebrate evolution, as well as a complex and mystical interdependence with humans.  The bee has significance in almost every facet of our existence: ecological, economic, spiritual, historical, psychological, artistic, biomimetic and sociological.  Honey bees belong to the genus Apis, with 7 species worldwide.  There were no 'true' honey bees in the Western Hemisphere until the 17th century.  They embody a omnipresent contradiction in modern ecology: today, there are more honey bees on the planet than at any time in history.  However, the use of bees as agricultural tools has led to mismanagement and disrespect, as their commercial numbers have plummeted as much as 60 percent  in the past 20 years."

If none of these bugs is for you, wait--there's another one. It's called "other."

Just type in your favorite. Either way, this bug's for you.