Bug Squad

What an unexpected find! It was the first day of 2013 and what did we see: a queen bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, aka black-tailed bumble bee. Like scores of others, we decided to take a walk on Jan. 1 in the Benicia State Recreation Area.

Art Shapiro knows where to find the cabbage white butterflies (Pieris rapae). No sooner had he announced his annual "Beer-for-a-Butterfly" Contest, then he found one. Actually, two.

The last honey bee of 2012. Despite the cold weather at Bodega Bay last Friday, we managed to see a few honey bees nectaring a New Zealand tea tree, aka Leptospermum scoparium.

It's a wonderful, well-deserved honor that pays tribute to her amazing talents.

A beer for a butterfly. What a deal. Whoever collects the first live cabbage white butterfly of 2013 in the three-county area of Yolo, Solano and Sacramento, can win a pitcher of beer, compliments of Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis.