Bug Squad

It's a jewel of a gift. David Verity of Los Angeles has just gifted the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, with his personal collection of buprestid jewel beetles. He is the former collection manager at the UCLA herbarium.

You're likely to see many species of bees at the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis.

It's a predatory world out there. Newly emerged Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) are fluttering around the yard--nectaring on lantana, finding mates, mating, and trying to avoid predators. The females are laying tiny yellow eggs on their host plant (Passiflora).

The next time you see a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) packing pollen, check out the color.

She researches fruit flies but she'll be discussing "The Concealed Beauty of Plant Architecture.