Bug Squad

It wouldn't make the news, even if it were a "Slow News Day." "Lady in Red Climbs Neon-Pink Petals in Search of Aphids." Lady beetles, aka ladybugs, are coming out of their winter hibernation now and they're hungry. Aphid-hungry. We spotted this lady beetle Feb.

Plenty of interactions occurred among bugs, plants and people at the 12th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, a Super Science Day recently held on the UC Davis campus and both free and family friendly.

Madagascar hissing cockroaches, aka hissers, are big, bold and beautiful. Just ask the scientists at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, who rear them in their petting zoo.

What's to know about scorpions, the predatory arachnids in the order Scorpiones? Access Wikipedia, and you'll learn they have eight legs, a pair of grasping pincers, and generally, a narrow, segemented tail that's curved over the back and ends with a stinger.

If you're curious about house flies and the latest research on antibiotic resistance, you won't want to miss this seminar sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Research molecular biologist Dana Nayduch of the Agricultural Research Service, U. S.