Bug Squad

Sometimes overlooked as pollinators are the syrphid flies, also known as "hover flies" or "flower flies." Unfortunately, they are often mistaken for honey bees. Hey, if it's a critter on a flower, it's a bee, right? Not necessarily! Syrphid flies are easily distinguished from honey bees.

Would you like to learn more about nematodes--specifically, "Parasitic Success in the Absence of Sex: What Have We Learned from Nematode Genomes?" French evolutionary biologist Etienne GJ Danchin will discuss that topic at a seminar on Monday, Nov.

Congratulations to UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock! Hammock, internationally recognized for discovering a new group of human chemical mediators, is a newly inducted Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences (CAS).

UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Art Shapiro, who's been monitoring the butterfly populations of central California since 1972, discussed his work at the Bohart Museum of Entomology recent open house on monarchs. He points out that he is a Lepidopterist but "not a monarch specialist.

It was a monarch state of mind... Western monarchs are now settling in their overwintering sites along coastal California, but the iconic butterflies showed up in force at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent open house--in the form of specimens, photographs, books, maps and displays.