Bug Squad

So, there she is, an out-of-season queen bumble bee, Bombus vosenenskii, nectaring on an equally out-of-season ice plant blossom at Doran Regional Park, Bodega Bay. The yellow-faced bumble bee bursts from a neon pink blossom in the video below. It's Oct.

If you like to photograph and share images of bugs, this is for you. Submissions are open for the 64th Annual International Insect Salon, hosted by the Peoria Camera Club of Illinois.

Seen any monarchs lately? A beautiful male glided into our Vacaville garden late yesterday and made himself at home on our Mexican sunflowers, Tithonia rotundifola. He claimed the patch--"mine, all mine, all mine!"--until a honey bee buzzed by looking for nectar.

If you attended the 2018 campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day and headed over to see the insects at Briggs Hall, home of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, you may have seen an enthusiastic drummer performing in The Entomology Band.

Thar's gold in them thar hills, and then there's that ol' golden dung fly, Scathophaga stercoraria. It's a red-eyed blond that definitely demands your attention.