Bug Squad

If you're a graduate student at the University of California, Davis, you can enroll in a newly announced spring quarter course, "The Science of the Monarch Butterfly," taught by Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology. But if you're not a graduate student? You're in luck.

It's a gathering of UC Davis entomologists--from students to graduates to faculty to retired faculty. The third UC Davis Entomology Alumni Reunion is set Sunday, March 31 through Tuesday, April 2. Most of the events will take place in the Walter A.

If you walk into the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, you might see UC Davis student Ivana Trinh Satre entering moth data on the LepNet database. It's a database but she also has a fan base.

They study bees, ants, fruit flies and spider flies. And that's just a small portion of what they do. And what a difference they're making! Four UC Davis entomologists won awards from the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA).

Who doesn't love that "bolt of blue," the pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor? A black butterfly with iridescent blue hindwings, it's a frequent visitor to our garden, where it nectars on such plants as the butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii, the Mexican sunflower (Tithonia), and sage (Salvia).