Bug Squad

We're accustomed to seeing a solitary monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) flitting around a garden. But millions of them? It was interesting to read the National Public Radio piece (Oct. 4) on Flight: A Few Million Little Creatures That Could.

Superorganisms, mimicry and aphids... Those are some of the topics to be covered at the UC Davis Department of Entomology's fall noonhour seminars, to begin Wednesday, Oct. 17 and continue through Wednesday, Nov. 28 in Room 1022 of the Life Sciences Building.

The Gulf Fritillary is as fascinating as it is amazing. The showy reddish-orange butterfly (Agraulis vanillae) is making a comeback in the Sacramento-Davis area. In the early 1970s, it was considered extinct in that area.

Let's talk butterfly eggs. Have you ever seen a Gulf Fritillary butterfly laying an egg in the wild? The Gulf Frit (Agraulis vanillae), one of the showiest of all butterflies, is a flash of orange-red as it flutters toward its host plant (genus Passiflora) to lay its eggs.

It's good to see UC Davis research entomologist William "Bill" Reisen named the recipient of the coveted Harry Hoogstraal Medal, to be awarded Nov. 11 in Atlanta, Ga. at the 61st annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).