Bug Squad

When it comes to building nests, social wasps are great artists and architects. But so were the participants in the family arts-and-crafts activity at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on social wasps, held Saturday, Jan.

Quick, get your camera ready! There's a wasp! Ever heard anyone say that? We remember capturing an image of a European paper wasp, Polistes dominula, that had just shredded a caterpillar and was about to fly the prey back to her colony. It was a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar, Agraulis vanillae.

When the Bohart Museum of Entomology hosts an open house on "Social Wasps" from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 20, the traditional family art-and-crafts activity will be something special.

As of today, Jan. 17, no one has won the Beer-for-a-Butterfly contest sponsored by butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus of the Department of Evolution and Ecology.

You've heard folks call insects "big 'ol bugs" (often in astonishment or terror), right? But have you ever seen a "bigeyed bug on a monarch butterfly?" Bigeyed bugs, Geocoris spp.