Ongoing research

We've all heard of the cuckoo clock. And most of us have heard of the cuckoo bird (Cuculus canorus), which lays its eggs in the nest of birds of other species. But the cuckoo bee? Yes, there is a cuckoo bee. The female lays her eggs in the nests of other solitary nesting bees. They resemble wasps.

Robber at work. No, this isn't a bank heist or a gas station hold-up or a home invasion. A carpenter bee is slitting the sides of salvia (sage) to steal the nectar. Floral larceny! Book 'em, Danno! Carpenter bees are nectar robbers.

It's a mighty mite and it's causing beekeepers fits. The varroa mite (see photo below) is an external parasite that attacks honey bees. It sucks blood from the adults (apparently preferring drones, the male bees) and from the brood (immature bees).

Okay, be honest. If you were attending class at 7:30 a.m., could you get excited about flies? No? How about the gender differences? Still no? You would if Mary Frances Fran Keller were there teaching you. You won't find anyone more enthusiastic about entomology than Fran Keller.

He didn't bring her flowers. They were already sharing a sunflower leaf. He didn't bring her candy. They'd already dined on nectar. It was Labor Day and the two crane flies looked quite friendly in our bee friendly garden. More than friendly. I think they were in love.

Bam! LBAM is back in the news. The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced Aug. 29 that it has established a 19-square-mile quarantine straddling portions of two counties after the light brown apple moth (LBAM) was found July 23 in Napa County and Aug. 10 in Sonoma County.

Our cat is an entomologist. She has no formal training in the science of insects, but she can catch insects with the best of 'em. Plus, her credentials include a butterfly mark on her leg. Xena the Warrior Princess is a rescue cat.

Robert Bugg saw it first. That's entomologist Robert L. Bugg. Bugg, who received his doctorate in entomology at UC Davis, does research on the biological control of insect pests; cover crops; and restoration ecology. And he saw it first. Look, he said.

We netted the floundering California lady beetle (Coccinella californica) aka "lady bug," from our swimming pool. She didn't look like the familiar lady beetle, reddish orange with black spots. One spot was all she had. And little life left.

Whew, that stinks! If you've ever smelled a mosquito gravid trap, you know it's not heaven-scent. This isn't about the aroma of summer roses or the whiff of freshly baked cinnamon rolls or the fragrance of vanilla-laced skin cream. No. This is something that stinks to high heaven.