Bug Squad

It's not the prettiest of plants. It looks somewhat like a thistle. No matter. The honey bees love it. Lacy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), a leggy three-foot plant with clusters of light blue to purple flowers, attracts not only honey bees but syrphid flies, bumbles bees and other pollinators.

If youre a first-year graduate student in entomology, you spend much of your time buried in books or conferring with your major professor. Emily Bzdyk, who is pursuing her doctorate in entomology at UC Davis, does that, too--and more. She's heavily involved in art.

The female silkworm moth releases a sex pheromone, bombykol, that's very enticing to the male. He can detect it from miles away.

Bees at The Bee. Some 60 creative artists will be showing and selling their bee-themed work on Saturday, May 8 at the "Bees at The Bee" art show in the Sacramento Bee's outdoor courtyard, 2100 Q. St. The event, free and open to the public, will take place from 3 to 8 p.m.

"The Good, the Bad, and the Bugly." That's one of the topics at the next meeting of the Northern California Entomology Society, to be held from 9:15 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday, May 6 in the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. It promises to be lively. And bugly.