Bug Squad

It's a bird! It's a plane! Is it Superman? No, it's a bird dropping. If you're growing sweet fennel (anise), you may have noticed what appear to be two species of swallowtail butterflies populating your plant.

A flash of orange. Usually we see assorted orange butterflies--Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) or Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui) or Monarchs (Danaus plexippus)--on our butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii).

When you visit the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's bee garden--named the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven after its primary donor--be sure to check out the colorful mural on the shed. The panels feature mostly native bees.

Newly published research by entomologist David James of Washington State University, Pullman, Wash., in the Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society yielded incredible news about the monarch population that migrates from the Pacific Northwest to California.

Congratulations to integrated pest management specialist Frank Zalom, distinguished professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, on his selection as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Economic Entomology, the largest and most cited of the family of scientific journals published by...