Bug Squad

You can quench your thirst. And then you can "quince" your thirst. That would be a honey bee on a flowering quince. Yes, the flowering quince are flowering. And none too soon in our drab landscape, nearly devoid of color. Today the honey bees seems to be in a feeding frenzy.

What's for lunch? If you're a lady beetle (aka ladybug), a good bet is you'll have one of those yummy, plant-sucking aphids. In fact, you'll eat your fill. Please do.

The creative folks at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, have done it again. Among the many activities at their recent "Snuggle Bugs" open house was a "mite/art station.

So far, so good. The three queen bumble bees (Bombus melanopygus) we found buzzing around our porch light the night of Jan. 9 are still very much alive.

Don't go looking for the first-flight cabbage white butterfly of the year in Yolo, Solano and Sacramento counties. The beer-for-a-butterfly contest is over. We have a winner!...drum roll...