Bug Squad

A gray butterfly and a fruit fly... Each has "fly" in its name but one is a member of the order Lepidoptera and the other, order Diptera. Etymology does not agree with entomology.

Today's Honorary Bee Image Award goes to...drum roll...an image of a humble hoverfly appearing on the National Geographic Facebook page. The caption reads "A bee sits on a marigold flower in Coronado National Forest, Arizona, USA.

You won't want to miss the cover story, "Butterflies in Decline," in the spring 2024 issue of The Acorn, the quarterly magazine published by the Effie Yeaw Nature Center. The center, operated by the American River Natural History Association (ARNHA), is located at 2850 San Lorenzo Way, Carmichael.

Congratulations again to the recipients of the 2024 UC Davis Academic Senate and Academic Federation awards.

Take stock of your flowers and pollinators; today is the first day of spring. If Virginia stock, Malcolmia maritima, is blooming in your garden now, you'll likely be seeing honey bees, syrphid flies and other pollinators. M.