Bug Squad

Quick question: What critter can chew and digest Styrofoam? Drum roll...Time's up... If you answered "mealworms"--or the larval form of the darkling beetle, family Tenebrionidae--that's correct.

When entomologist Diane Ulman, professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, and self-described rock artist Donna Billick of Davis co-founded the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, one of the many outcomes is LASER.

"Fourteen" is a lucky number at the Berkeley Aquatic Park, 80 Bolivar Drive, Berkeley. Fourteen is considered a day of love and romance, as in the 14th of February, Valentine's Day. But at the Berkeley Aquatic Park, it's also love. Love at first sight. Or love at first site.

When material possessions tear at the very fabric of our lives, it's time to re-weave and re-think. Gimme more, gimme more, gimme more! seems to be the mantra of the rich and famous and the faux rich and famous.

If you look closely, you'll not only see the cycle of life in your garden, but art as the center of life. Take the Gulf Fritillaries. They're a stunning orangish-reddish butterfly (Agraulis vanillae) with silver-spangled underwings.