Bug Squad

Congrats to the University of California Linnaean Games Team! They know their insects! The UC team, which swept the national championship last year, just won the regional competition Monday night at the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA) meeting in San Diego.

Why silver digger bees are like gold... Remember those "long lost" silver digger bees found last week at the San Francisco Presidio? They hadn't been seen in large aggregations for nearly a century.

Next week promises to be memorable week for entomologists at the University of California, Davis. Oh, how they wish they could clone themselves so they could be in two places at the same time: in San Diego and on the UC Davis campus.

The message was clear. If you see a creepy crawler, don't yell yecch! and run for coveror the nearest exit. Instead, say Interesting! Insects should delight you, not frighten you.

It's good to see butterflies, especially monarchs, getting so much press. Now let's see if we can press the issue. The Washington Post just published an article in its style section: "Butterflies Were Symbols of Rebirth.