Bug Squad

Sometimes you'll see him sitting cross-legged on the floor, circled by first graders. They're asking questions like "What is an insect?" and "How long do insects live?" and "What do they eat?" Sometimes you'll see him holding Madagascar hissing cockroaches and explaining why they hiss.

It's good to see county and state fairs focusing on bugs 'n bees. These displays inform, educate and entertain. The California State Fair, Sacramento, traditionally features an Insect Pavilion, which includes exotic and invasive species.

It was great to see Robert E. Page Jr., emeritus professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, be selected as one of the 10 fellows of the 6000-member Entomological Society of America for 2012.

Walter Leal isnt participating in the Olympics, but he medaled just the same. It was not for athletic prowess, but for scholarly achievementsthe scientific equivalent of an international gold medal.

The thing about predators and prey is that it's the nature of things. Take spiders. The many different species have different methods of catching, killing, confining and eating their prey.