Bug Squad

What's it like to be parasitized? Say you're a caterpillar or an aphid and a wasp comes along and lays her eggs inside you. Her eggs will hatch and then her offspring will eat their way out. You, the host, are no more. Zero. Zip. Zilch.

It's a cold spell. As temperatures dip throughout much of California, and honey bees snuggle inside their hives, it's "bees-ness" in southern California this week.

Thar's gold in them thar apple trees. Gold? When a rotten apple tree was cut down last week on private property in Davis, scores of eyes peered from the drilled holes.

In case you've forgotten amid all the horn-blowing, champagne-sipping and singing of "Auld Lang Syne," the search is still on to collect the first cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) of 2015 in the three county-area of Yolo, Sacramento and Solano.

It's a buggy new year! One of the fascinating things about beginning the new year is the Entomological Society of America's "World of Insects" calendar. Amazing images of insects (and one spider!) jump out at you.