Bug Squad

Most people have never seen the walnut twig beetle, a tiny insect that spreads a fungal pathogen that kills walnut trees. No wonder. The insect, measuring about 1.5 millimeters long, is much smaller than a grain of rice.

It's exciting to see a promising career unfold.

We applaud the groundbreaking news this week from the Bruce Hammock laboratory at the University of California, Davis.

The aphids know how to plan a family reunion. Grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, mom and pop, brothers and sisters, cousins and more cousins--they're all gathering to feed on the lush growth of the spring roses, the juicy shoots, the tender buds. And they multiply.

In February--the afternoon of Feb. 8 to be exact--Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology told us that California almond growers may not have enough honey bees to pollinate this years crop of 800,000 acres.