Bug Squad

(Editor's Note: If you missed the seminar, you can view it here on YouTube at https://youtu.be/KVTGmDo2LLQ).

Mark your calendars. A professor renowned for bridging art and science will address a UC Davis Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology seminar on April 25 in Meyer Hall, UC Davis campus.

No wall can separate a Gulf Fritillary from its host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora). The Gulf Frit Agraulis vanillae), an orangish-reddish butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, fluttered over our six-foot fence, heading straight for the passionflower vine.

The black-tailed bumble bee wasn't flying very well. You wouldn't, either, if you were trying to fly with a backpack on your back. Except this wasn't a backpack but sticky pollen.

What's better than a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) on yellow mustard? Not much. Both are signs of early spring. Mustard is popping up all over, along with oxalyis and wild radish. The earth is warming. Spring is here. Get ready.