Bug Squad

Battus philenor! Battus philenor! Butterfly expert Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, excitedly points to a Pipevine Swallowtail nectaring on roadside radish.

As the world mourned the Jan. 27th death of 94-year-old folk singer Pete Seeger and hummed his signature song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", the question has now turned to: "Where Have All the Monarchs Gone?" The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is in trouble.

How do organisms respond to human-caused environmental change? What can we do?

When it ought to be raining, it's raining pink. They say you can't fool Mother Nature or outsmart Father Time but that's not the case in the UC Davis Arboretum. A red Japanese apricot, Prunus mume "Matsubara red" glows with absolute radiance in the Storer Garden.

It all began with bugs. That's where it usually begins when your father is an entomologist. Tom Hammock, son of distinguished professor Bruce Hammock, of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, learned about insects early in life.