Bug Squad

Did you read the article in today's New York Times about tsetse flies and the scientists who research them? Totally fascinating.

Oh, the butterflies you'll see at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the eighth annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 16.

If you like chocolate, thank the midges. These tiny flies (about 1 to 3mm) pollinate the intricate flowers of the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao. From those seed pods, known as cocoa beans, come the chocolate that we crave. In fact, we Americans consume 2.

Postdoctoral scientist Antoine Brieux of the Joanna Chiu lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is gearing up for a seminar next week on his research on the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, involving photoperiodic time measurement (PPTM).

You gotta love those tarantulas at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis. If you don't love them, then at least you'll love their names.