Bug Squad

UC Davis medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo's tiny research subjects in Tupper Hall are receiving widespread attention on a very large scale. In less than 48 hours, nearly 500,000 people have seen thembut not in his restricted-access lab.

A UC Davis scientist has just received a federal grant to study trapdoor spiders in California, with opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in the research. Citizen scientists also can be involved through public sightings and suggestions for naming a newly discovered species.

If you're a beekeeper or scientist and want to know more about bee breeding, you should access the newly produced video, "Selecting Methods for Honey Bee Breeding.

"Today dawned foggy," began Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, in a Jan. 22nd group email.

The question is troubling: What's going on with the monarch butterfly population in the West? The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation reported this week that its Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count shows a decline for the second consecutive year.