Bug Squad

This Christmas season isn't the same without University of California Cooperative Extension apiculturist emeritis Eric Mussen, who died June 3 of liver cancer at his home in Davis. Mussen (1944-2022) was an institution. He was a global authority of honey bees. He was family to everyone.

If you haven't signed up for the Seed Pile Project, it's not too late.

"Wasps are terrible. They come jam-packed full of pain and anger, and they love to sting us out of the blue while we're minding our own business. They eat our food at picnics and frighten our children. They even build nests in our gardens and homes, just to complicate our already-stressful lives.

Move over, monarchs butterflies. The cold-adapted Parnassian butterflies don't get nearly as much attention as the iconic monarchs that migrate to overwintering spots, but a UC Davis entomology student's research may help change all that.

Every April 30, UC Davis doctoral candidate Charlotte Herbert Alberts, celebrates World Robber Fly Day. Now she has another day to celebrate: she recently published the first chapter of her dissertation on a new species of robber flies (also called assassin flies), in ZooKeys.