Bug Squad

If there ever were a Christmas bug, it would be the ladybug, aka lady beetle. The insects (family Coccinellidae) are brightly colored and spread joy in the garden when they feast on aphids. Last summer we enjoyed watching them hanging out and hooking up.

You're sitting around discussing the importance of honey bees. The points include: they give us honey, they pollinate agricultural crops, and they serve as an example of a well-organized society. But wait, there's more. They scare off plant predators.

Seen any cabbage whites lately? If you capture one before UC Davis professor Arthur Shapiro does, he'll trade you a beer for your butterfly. Actually, a pitcher of beer or its cash equivalent. Yes, it's time for Shapiro's 38th annual Butterfly-for-Beer contest.

You CAN have your cake and eat it, too. You can also "have your BUG and eat it, too." Even if you're not into entomophagy.

Who put the killer in killer bees? Someone named B. Melon asked that question on the Strange but True segment of the Web site, readthehook.com. To answer the bee question, Bill Sones and Rich Sones did what many do.