Bug Squad

 When UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology headed for Washington D.C. in April to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), he stopped by the Albert Einstein memorial, located at the corner of the NAS grounds.Leal read Einstein's…

 Have you visited the UC Davis Bee Haven lately?It's thriving with more plants, more pollinators, and more projects since its renovation launched last summer.The half-acre bee friendly demonstration garden, installed in the fall of 2009 on Bee Biology Road, is located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr…

 If you're concerned about the loss of academic research in our universities--why it matters and what you can do--you'll want to register for this UC Davis-based webinar. Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman, a Distinguished Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Molecular and Cell Biology--and…

 Where are all the monarchs?Last year at this time,  we recorded monarchs arriving here in Vacaville, Solano County, to lay their eggs on our milkweed. So far this year: zero, zip, zilch.  Let's throw in a little nada, too, for good measure. Zero, zip, zilch, nada.Earlier this year, the…

 Does the common checkered skipper butterfly have a checkered past?That is, "good" and "bad" periods in its life history?It's known as Burnsius communis, formerly Pyrgus communis, a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. It derives its common name from its checkerboard pattern of blue-gray and…