Bug Squad

Did you hear that buzz in California's almond orchards? It takes about two colonies per acre to pollinate California's 1.2 million acres of almonds. That's about 2.5 million bee colonies trucked here from throughout the country.

Yes, you can. If you've been wondering if there's still room for you at the innovative UC Davis symposium on "Saving a Bug's Life: Legal Solutions to Combat Insect Biodiversity Decline and the Sixth Mass Extinction," the answer is yes. The free public event, set from 8:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Seen any Western monarch butterflies yet this year? No? Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, has. He spotted one on Jan.

I call him the Mountain Boy. A male carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, appeared in our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif.,on Feb. 27, the earliest we've seen this species. It's the smallest of California's carpenter bees and is often called the foothill or mountain carpenter bee.

He will walk folks through the evolution of the insects out of the ocean and into the air, and from the air back to the ground (in the case of ants).