Bug Squad

Ever seen a honey bee packing red pollen? Rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) is one flower that yields red pollen. It's a drought-tolerant perennial, a succulent. But the most striking part is its color: a neon pink that could stop traffic.

Save the dates! The seventh annual International Monarch Monitoring Blitz will take place Friday, July 28 through Sunday, Aug. 6.

Where are all the monarchs? Not in our pollinator garden here in Vacaville. Milkweed? Check. Floral resources? Check. Praying mantids? No. (Haven't seen any, but they're out there!) Birds? Yes. (Nesting California scrub jays eat their fill of caterpillars, mainly Gulf Fritillary 'cats.) Shade? Yes.

Scholar, teacher, mentor, researcher, author, collaborator, leader, optimist and administrator. Those are some of the roles of Professor Joanna Chiu, molecular geneticist and physiologist, who advanced from vice chair to chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology on July 1.

Congrats to the University of California recipients of awards from the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE), an international association of communicators, educators and information technologists who focus on communicating research-based information.