Bug Squad

The noonhour seminars sponsored every Wednesday through March 10 by the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, are drawing widespread interest. And delightedly so. Many faculty, students and staff make it a point to attend the 12:10 to 1 p.m.

Talk about singing the blues. Specifically, the noted "Blue King" (Aster amellus), a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae. This is one flower that deserves its own chorus. At the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

James R. Carey is used to dissent. The entomology professor at the University of California, Davis, fervently believes that the Mediterranean fruit fly and light brown apple moth, two exotic and invasive pests, have long been established in California and cannot be eradicated.

Bee health. So crucial. The January newsletter published by the eXtension.

How ironic. We recently wrote about Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists training honey bees to detect explosives. It works this way: they harness bees and place them in little scientific containers. When the bees detect the scent of explosives, they stick out their tongues.