Bug Squad

Thrips, those tiny little critters about a millimeter long or less that wreak economic havoc to U.S. agricultural crops--not to mention crops worldwide--may have met their match. They're under attack by entomologist Diane Ullman of UC Davis and her team of eight other investigators.

Everyone recognizes the mighty monarch butterfly.

California almond growers are worried--and rightfully so--about the honey bee shortage. Honey bee guru Eric Mussen, Extension apiculturist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology, said today that almond growers may not have enough bees to pollinate this year's crop of 800,000 acres. We need 1.

Ah, what an intoxicating scent! If you've ever been around the winter daphne, Daphne odora, cultivar "Aureomarginata," you know that its aroma precedes it. You'll ask "What's that fragrance?" before you even see the showy pink-and-white blossoms and its green leaves edged in gold.

Of the one millions insects so far described, 120,000 are butterflies or moths, 150,000 are flies, 400,000 are beetles, and only 3000 are walking sticks. Which are my speciality. Not too much is known about walking sticks because not many people have studied them.