Bug Squad

Yes, I'll have some mustard, please. Yes, both the pollen and the nectar, thank you. We watched a honey bee buzz into our little mustard patch, her proboscis (tongue) extended, and pollen weighting her down. If she were at the airport, someone would have volunteered to carry her bags.

Congrats to the University of California Linnaean Games Team! They know their insects! The UC team, which swept the national championship last year, just won the regional competition Monday night at the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA) meeting in San Diego.

Why silver digger bees are like gold... Remember those "long lost" silver digger bees found last week at the San Francisco Presidio? They hadn't been seen in large aggregations for nearly a century.

Next week promises to be memorable week for entomologists at the University of California, Davis. Oh, how they wish they could clone themselves so they could be in two places at the same time: in San Diego and on the UC Davis campus.

The message was clear. If you see a creepy crawler, don't yell yecch! and run for coveror the nearest exit. Instead, say Interesting! Insects should delight you, not frighten you.