Bug Squad

Back in February, butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, told a monarch butterfly summit on the UC Davis campus--organized by the Environmental Defense Fund--that the monarchs are "on life support.

The highly respected California Academy of Sciences greeted its 2019 Class of Fellows on Oct. 15, and one of them is a pollination ecologist from the University of California, Davis.

It's commonly called a "passion butterfly," but we call it a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillaea) or Gulf Frit. Or "spectacular.

It won't be a Fright Night or a Delight Night. After all, it's in the afternoon. But the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on "Parasitoid Palooza" on Saturday, Oct. 19 from 1 to 4 p.m.

You've seen honey bees buzzing past you to reach a good nectar or pollen source. But there's much more to it than that. What's in that floral nectar and pollen? Think plant-pollinator-pathogen webs.