Bug Squad

What a night! What a night--both inside and outside the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis on Saturday, July 21.

It was "Moth Night" at the Bohart Museum of Entomology last Saturday night, but three scarab beetles beat the moths to the blacklighting display. The UC Davis event took place from 8 to 11 p.m.

It's a bully. But what a bully! Ever seen the male European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) protecting its turf? It's "no-holds barred" on our blue spike sage (Salvia uliginosa) and frankly, it's a delight to see and photograph.

The "best-kept secret" is no more. Well, it's not so much as a "best-kept secret" but a "UC Davis treasure." Thousands attended the seventh annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, which showcased 13 museums or collections.

So here's this male longhorned bee (Svastra) sipping a little nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). As the late Mr. Rogers (1928-2003), star of the TV show, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," so often proclaimed: "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.