Bug Squad

Yes, they're still there. More today than yesterday. That's how it goes in the Magical World of Butterflies. The Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) are keeping busy, and so is this insect wedding photographer trying to capture their images.

Love is like a butterfly A rare and gentle thing --Love Is Like a Butterfly, Dolly Parton When Dolly Parton penned her song, "Love Is Like a Butterfly," she probably wasn't thinking of passion butterflies, Gulf Fritillaries.

Do you know how honey bees, the world's most beneficial insects, produce wax? Have you ever worked with beeswax? Have you ever made candles and wax resusable food wraps? Ever gifted them during the holidays to friends, family and co-workers?

Nematodes (microscopic, eel-like roundworms) aren't usually a household word but they're featured prominently in the current edition of The Plant Journal. And UC Davis plant nematologist Shahid Siddique, formerly with the University of Bonn, is at the heart of it.

So here are all these milkweed bugs clustered on a showy milkweed leaf, Asclepias speciosa. It's early morning and the red bugs are a real eye opener.