Bug Squad

Want to try your hand at Maggot Art? If you've ever visited Briggs Hall during the annual campuswide Picnic Day at the University of California, Davis, you probably know about Maggot Art, an arts-and-crafts activity that fuses entomology with art.

The red flameskimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) waits oh-so-patiently atop a bamboo stick at the edge of the pollinator garden. She's in Vacaville, Calif.

It's the Fourth of July, and amid our celebration of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence 241 years ago on July 4, 1776 and our glorious nation, we celebrate the red, white and blue--the colors of our flag.

Do you know the importance of maggots? Have you ever wanted to talk to a forensic entomologist? Ever wanted to create "maggot art" in a family friendly environment?

Remember when scientists first detected the Mediterranean fruit fly in California? It was the early 1980s.