Bug Squad

Exciting news! Scientists based at the University of California, San Francisco, have discovered four new honey bee viruses.

Don't forget your sunglasses if you're heading over to the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee-friendly demonstration garden at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. That's because the Gaillardia is stunningly bright and beautiful.

Talk about a bee celebration! Folks with a passion for honey bees and native bees can head over to Mill Valley on Saturday, June 18 for "The Celebration of the Bees." To be held from 1 to 4 p.m.

The crane fly is as long-legged and slender as a runway model, but as gangly as a teenager. The insect, from the family Tipulidae, is sometimes called daddy long-legs (not!) or a skeeter eater (not!). They don't eat mosquitoes and they don't bite. The adults sip nectar.

You never hear anyone say "He's as cute as an earwig." Or, he's as cute as a "lygus bug." No. It's "Cute as a June bug," which could be any number of bugs, including the fig beetle (Cotinus mutabilis).