Bug Squad

It was a tough day for a Tettigoniid on a Tithonia. When a katydid (Tettigoniid) encountered a crab spider on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in our garden, the katydid didn't last long. The spider administered a venomous bite and it was all over.

Chalk up the Bohart Museum of Entomology Moth Night as a huge success! The event, held from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Where's Waldo? If you've ever looked at a Where's Waldo pictorial book and tried to spot a cartoon-like character wearing a red-and-white striped shirt, a bobbie hat, and glasses, you know it's not that easy. Many look-alikes or red herrings populate each page.

During the 11th annual National Moth Week, one thing's for sure: Beekeepers won't be celebrating the beauty, life cycle, or habitat of the Greater Wax Moth (Galleria mellonella), also known as "the honeycomb moth." It's a major pest of bee colonies that aren't maintained well.

You gotta love those wooly bear caterpillars. Richard "Rick" Karban, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, studies them. The rest of us admire them. We usually see them in the spring along the cliffs of Bodega Head on the Sonoma coast.