Bug Squad

Deep in the bowels of Briggs Hall on the UC Davis campus, entomology graduate student Kelly Hamby works on a pest that is giving growers fits: spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii).

Researchers in the Walter Leal lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology, are engaging in some exciting research. They just discovered a "generic insect repellent detector" in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster)--research published today (March 16) in PloS One (Public Library of Science).

Congratulations to integrated pest management specialist Frank Zalom, professor and former vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. He's just been named the recipient of the C. W. Woodworth Award, the highest award bestowed by the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America.

California peach blossoms are peachy keen. Especially when honey bees are foraging. The pink pastel blossoms, powder blue sky, and golden honey bees...yes, California peach orchards are blooming.

When something is a "plum," it's something desirable, whether it be a "plum" position, a "plum" assignment or a "plum" reward. With honey bees, a bee on a plum blossom is definitely a plum job. The honey bees foraging today in the Hagen-Dazss Honey Bee Haven at Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.