Nevada

In the human world, women may splash themselves with perfume to attract men, but did you know that in the orchid bee world, males gather perfume compounds to attract females? Heaven scent?

It's the place to "bee" on Sunday, May 7 at the University of California, Davis. You'll meet scientists, environmentalists and beekeepers; you can brush up on bee friendly plants; and you can learn why honey is "as good as gold.

Like a moth to a flame... Except this moth headed not for a flame, but to a porch light. Our porch light. And what a find. It was a sea-green mottled moth that looked a lot like lichen.

It was an unexpected find, but it was right on time.

From honey bees to flower thrips to Asian longhorned beetles... From a beneficial insect to pests... It's good to see the wide diversity of topics in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's winter seminar schedule.

A 12-year-old boy from Mesa, Ariz. with a lifelong interest in bugs, got what he wished for last week at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis. This story is about a boy, bugs, a birthday and the Bohart.

The Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) is never alone. It loves company, attracting scores of insect guests, from honey bees to bumble bees to butterflies. We've seen monarchs, Gulf Fritillaries, Western tiger swallowtails, buckeyes, and fiery skippers nectaring on our Mexican sunflowers.

He may have been born" in an Ashland, Ore., vineyard. But at least we know he hails from Ashland. That's what we learned about the male monarch that fluttered into our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. on Monday, Sept.

It's all the buzz. It's just been announced that the Western Apicultural Society (WAS), founded 40 years ago at UC Davis, will be meeting ...drum roll...Sept. 5-8, 2017 in Davis, Calif. That's the kind of advance notice we like. Fortieth anniversary? Is that possible? It is.

Western yellowjackets, nicknamed "meat bees" (as opposed to the "vegetarian honey bees") are often misidentified. A recent visitor at a camp in the Sierra Nevada mountain range witnessed a large number of wasps and stinging behavior.