Bug Squad

They're Down Under and on deadline. Entomology professors Penny Gullan and Peter Cranston of the University of California, Davis, are finishing the fourth edition of their popular textbook, The Insects: An Outline of Entomology. They're not in Davis, though.

When my mother died in 2002, she left a little box in her estate labeled "Texas bug." A native Texan, she grew up on a West Texas ranch where she loved to ride horses. She may have collected the bug on one of her horseback rides. Or someone may have collected it for her. No matter. She kept it.

There's a lot of history in this photograph. If you connected with the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 1970, you'll recognize some of the names, if not the faces. Sixteen distinguished faculty members posed for this photo.

"The Beetles." When you hear those two words, you think of four Liverpool musicians named John, Paul, George and Ringo. Not so at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Say "beetles" and that means insects. Lots of insects.

There are so many caring, kindhearted and generous people out there concerned about the plight of the honey bee.