Bug Squad

What a stunning photo! Rachel Graham, a master's student in entomology at the University of California, Davis who loves photographing insects, recently submitted an image of a blue dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, for the Entomological Society of America's 2014 World of Insects calendar.

As fall fades and winter beckons, we're still seeing skipper butterflies foraging in cosmos, lantana and other flowers. Lepidopterans study 'em but we just admire 'em. Distinguishing characteristics of skippers include "clubs" on the tips of their antennae, and those huge, compound eyes.

All that glitters may be beetles--jewel beetles. You'll want to attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Saturday, Nov. 23 from 1 to 4 p.m. to bask in the theme, "Beauty and the Beetles.

You like the taste of honey, right? How about A Taste of Mead and Honey? Thats even better! The UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center is planning a "Mid-Winter Beekeepers Feast: A Taste of Mead and Honey" on Saturday, Feb.

Oh, the fun-loving, sun-loving cosmos. A native of Mexico and a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae, this plant brightens many a garden, attracting such pollinators as honey bees, bumble bees, sweat bees, hover flies and butterflies.