Bug Squad

Evolutionary ecologist Leslie Saul-Gershenz goes places where many have been but few have ever really seen. Bees and blister beetles, yes.

Friday the 13th is not an unlucky day--not when migratory monarchs make a pit stop at your home on their way to their overwintering sites. Today a male monarch fluttered into our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif., and sipped nectar from a tropical milkweed.

You may have missed it, but today (Thursday, Oct. 12) is National Farmers' Day. The day originated back in the 1800s as a way to recognize and thank farmers for all the work they do to feed our nation--and the world. It's also time to thank a beekeeper.

As those horrendous wild fires continue to rage throughout California, as Cal Fire helicopters roar over, as residents scramble from their homes, as smoke thickens the air, and as ashes flutter down like feathers, it's difficult to think about insects for a Bug Squad blog.

The news is disturbing but not unexpected. Scientists are linking global climate change to one reason why the worldwide population of bumble bees is declining. An article published Sept.