Bug Squad

Irish novelist Margaret Wolfe Hungerford was right. In Molly Bawn, published in 1878, Hungerford wrote "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," meaning that our perception of beauty is subjective. Beauty is also in the eye of the bee-holder, that is, a predator that "holds" bees.

Take one distinguished professor and one undergraduate student. Be sure it's a warm summer day. Then just add water. What do you get? An epic battle during the 15th annual Bruce Hammock Lab Water Balloon Battle on the Briggs Hall lawn at the University of California, Davis.

National Moth Week, July 21-29, celebrates the beauty, life cycles and habitats of moths. What's not to celebrate? And you can do so at the University of California, Davis.

Have you ever seen a monarch butterfly eclose? It's a magical moment. First an egg, then a caterpillar, then a chrysalis, and then a butterfly, Danaus plexippus. We took some images of a monarch eclosing back on Sept. 10, 2016. It was late in the season.

If you missed hearing The Entomology Band performing in front of Briggs Hall during the recent UC Davis Picnic Day, not to worry. They're featured in a recent Entomology Today blog, published by the Entomological Society of America (and written by yours truly) and headlined "Bugs and Beat.