Bug Squad

There's no doubt about it. Bugs will rule at the 99th annual UC Davis Picnic Day this Saturday, April 20. The UC Davis Department of Entomology is planning lots of "bug" activities as part of the campuswide celebration.

If you're a research scientist studying the malaria mosquito, or interested in genomics, you'll want to attend a seminar on Wednesday, April 17 at the University of California, Davis.

Some folks call them "mosquito hawks" or "skeeter eaters" or "blood suckers." They're not. None of the above. Crane flies, in the family Tipulidae, don't prey on mosquitoes and they don't suck blood. These slender, long-legged insects remind us of runway models. Thin. Demure. Fragile.

What about those Africanized honey bees? Where are they located in California? Hollywood movie refer to them as "killer bees." Ditto, the news media.

You can't always choose your tenants. Sometimes they choose you. Take the case of our two bee condos, which are blocks of wood drilled with holes for native bee occupancy. One, with the smaller holes, is for leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.