Bug Squad

 Friday, March 20 marked the first day of spring, and Wednesday, April 1 marks the first of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's nine spring seminars. The seminars will take place on Wednesdays at 12:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall, UC Davis campus, through May 27. They also will be on…

 Oh, the quotes about grasshoppers! "War among grasshoppers delights the crow.""Two ants do not fail to pull one grasshopper.""The restless grasshopper only finds rest in the gizzard of a bird.""A grasshopper that sleeps about will soon be awake in a lizard's mouth."Crows, ants, birds, lizards, who…

 Ever found a tick on yourself, a friend or Fido?Yes? As the weather warms up, ticks are becoming more and more active. Ticks can do more than just "tick you off."Kim Douglass, a public health biologist with the Vector-Borne Disease Section, California Department of Public Health (CDPH),…

 All hail the aphid eaters!Lady beetles, aka ladybugs, emerge in spring from winter hibernation, and do so with voracious appetites. Is your rose bush drawing aphids? Bring on the beetles.  The lady beetle eats some 50 aphids a day--what some may call "a 50-course meal." In it lifetime, it can…

 Future arachnologists? Maybe! Artists? Definitely!Children and adults alike created "new species" of spiders when they worked with modeling clay at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent open house, themed "Eight-Leg Encounters." All arachnids, including scorpions,  spiders, and ticks, have…