Bug Squad

Most of the time, I see red. Occasionally, I see spots. Red? The flameskimmer dragonflies (Libellula saturata) that hang out in our pollinator garden. Spots? The 12-spot dragonfly, Libellula pulchella.

Look out, Franklin's bumble bee, they're coming for you! The question is: Where are you? Have you managed to "hide" all these years or are you extinct?

We're all going to miss him. The termites, bed bugs and cockroaches--not so much. "Him" is Vernard Lewis, who terminated termites, bugged bed bugs, and controlled cockroaches.

"I'd like a faster maggot." So said a little boy working on his maggot art project last Sunday afternoon, July 9, at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis. The occasion: a special open house with special presenters, members of North American Forensic Entomology Association (NAFEA).

Few people have seen California's state insect in the wild, but now thousands will this week--on TV. The California dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice, and its Auburn habitat will be featured on KVIE Public Television's "Rob on the Road" show at various times throughout the week.