Bug Squad

Honey is sticky. Bees are in a sticky situation. Now enter "Sticky Business: Art of the Honey Bee." It's an art show about honey bees that will run from Tuesday, Nov. 23 from Thursday, Dec. 23 in the Pence Art Gallery, 212 D St., Davis.

One of the spectacular plants blooming in the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, the half-acre bee friendly garden at the University of California, Davis, is the cape mallow (Anisodontea hypomandarum), a native of South Africa.

Ever see a golden bee that takes your breath away? They're most likely Cordovans, a subspecies of the Italian race. The one below is a Cordovan, basically a bee with a color mutation that inhibits black, explains noted bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey.

The first thing you notice about the fly is its brilliant red eyes. They stand out like the proverbial elephant in the room. But they are on a fly--a flesh fly.

Aren't syrphid flies grand? Syrphid flies, aka hover flies or flower flies (family Syrphidae), are especially grand in a Calandrinia grandiflora, aka rock purslane.