Bug Squad

While other parts of the country are buried in snow, California's Central Valley is just finishing up its almond pollination season.

If there's anything better than a ladybug eating an aphid, it's a ladybug devouring dozens of aphids. Get 'em! Ladybugs--actually, they're "lady beetles"--are garden heroes. And that's the theme of the Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house on Sunday, March 2 from 1 to 4 p.m.

We're accustomed to seeing honey bees pollinating the almonds. But carpenter bees do, too. We spotted a female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, foraging in an almond tree on Feb. 24 in a field adjacent to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

Talk about good news. Honey bees will definitely benefit from the U.S.

If you want to learn more about ants, especially those in New York City, then here's a newly published book you can't refuse. And it's not only a book you can't refuse, but you can reuse over and over again. It's that fascinating. "Dr.