Bug Squad

When the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America, meets for its 101 annual conference April 2-5 in Portland, Ore., three UC Davis-affiliated scientists will receive special awards. One recipient is a faculty member, one is a postdoctoral fellow, and another, a graduate student.

It promises to be a fascinating talk. Research entomologist William Meikle of the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Agricultural Research Center, U.S.

They're back! Have you checked your rose bushes lately? Along with the lush new growth, you'll probably notice a new crop of aphids. And if you look closely, probably lady beetles (aka ladybugs).

So, you're taking a winter walk through the Ruth Risdon Storer Garden, part of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Gardens. You're looking for the winter daphne, Daphne odora Aureomarginta. You see a daphne sign in the Storer Garden but what's that on the sign? A butterfly? A Red Admiral? On Jan.

Like a moth to a flame... Except this moth headed not for a flame, but to a porch light. Our porch light. And what a find. It was a sea-green mottled moth that looked a lot like lichen.