Bug Squad

So, you're looking for that perfect, one-of-a-kind holiday gift. One that will not only be memorable but a conversation piece.

It's a strange little insect. A reader likens it to "a cricket on steroids." A Van Nuys resident says she always wondered what they were. "I've lived in this house for 17 years, and a few times a year I see this strange insect in my backyard. It is always either dead or dying.

It's exciting to see a son follow in the footsteps of his father: soon there will be more than one Hammock with a Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis.

If youre having pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin pie today (Thanksgiving), you can thank a squash bee. The photos posted below are genus Peponapis, common name "squash bee." They emerge in mid- to late summer, nest in the ground, and are approximately half an inch in length.

The UC Davis news circulating around the world about a horses remarkable recovery from laminitis--thanks to an experimental compound--has an insect connection. But first: the news story.