Bug Squad

Overhead in the lady's restroom of a restaurant at the Sausalito marina: Mother to daughter: "There's a lady in here." Daughter: "A lady? Well, why wouldn't there be a lady in here? This is a lady's restroom." Mother: "Look right over there, on the wall.

Visitors to the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) display in front of Briggs Hall at the 101st annual Picnic Day last Saturday at the University of California, Davis, got a close look at the Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar.

Pardon me, there's something on your shoulder! And yes, there was. A Madagasar hissing cockroach was one of the critters that UC Davis entomology major Wade Spencer showed to guests at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house last Saturday during the 101st annual campuswide Picnic Day.

So, you want to make an insect collection? How do you begin? Where do you start? Distinguished Professor James R. Carey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology led a class on how to do just that several years ago.

In real life, the black widow spider is about 1.5 inches long. You'd never know that if you looked in the backyard of UC Davis entomologists Robert and Lynn Kimsey.