Bug Squad

An American flag flies from its sky-high pole at our home year-around. A U.S. Air Force veteran lives here, and the survivors of generations of veterans, starting with the American Revolution, live here.

(Editor's Note: Watch the seminar on YouTube) Soils matter. They matter in the role of bee conservation efforts, as more than 80 percent of bees nest below ground.

It was July 3, 2020. The male bees, Melissodes agilis, were getting quite territorial. Every time a butterfly, a honey bee or another insect in our family's pollinator garden expressed an interest in foraging on the Mexican sunflowers, Tithonia rotundifola, a male Melissodes buzzed them.

In an era when folks say they have no clue what nematology is, it's gratifying to see it make the headlines.

Seen any Pipevine Swallowtails lately? The UC Davis Ecological Garden is teeming with eggs, larvae, pupa and adults. The butterflies there seem particularly fond of nectaring on Jupiter's beard, Centranthus ruber.