Bug Squad

 Spiders know where the bees are.Crab spiders hide in the petals and ambush foraging bees.  Orbweavers build sticky, silken webs. Jumping spiders actively stalk or pounce on bees. The predators and the prey...I spotted a bold jumping spider in our lavender patch this week and watched it nail a…

 Ever seen a leafcutter bee or carpenter bee heading toward their human-crafted nests, also called bee condos, bee hotels, bee beds, bee houses or bee abodes?When you visit the UC Davis Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis, you may see them.The Haven, a half-acre pollinator garden installed by the UC…

 Picture this...You're journaling as a participant in a class at the UC Davis Bee Haven. The garden is not only tranquil but therapeutic. You're writing and sketching about the bees buzzing, the butterflies fluttering, the flowers blooming, and the birds chirping. That's what took place when…

 Today, on Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, we pay tribute to America's fallen soldiers, and those who served in the military."The Civil War was America's bloodiest conflict.  The unprecedented violence of battles such as Shiloh, Antietam, Stones River, and Gettysburg shocked citizens and international…

 More than 60 years ago, a teenage butterfly researcher in Philadelphia conceived of a genomics research project involving the genus Colias, the sulfur butterfly.  It never came to fruition because DNA genomics had not yet been invented. Fast forward to today. The research project that the…