Bug Squad
Article

Throw a Little Shade on Me, Please

  • July 20, 2021

Are you tired of the triple-digit temperatures? Wish someone would throw a breeze your way and provide a little shade? 

A honey bee foraging on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifola) probably felt a slight breeze when a Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) fluttered down and landed next to her.

This is a two-insect blossom now. 

Butterfly: "Bee, what are you doing?"

Bee: "Sipping some nectar, same as you."

Butterfly: "Bee, don't get any closer."

Bee, edging closer. "But I was here first. The nectar is excellent."

Butterfly: "Go away."

Bee: "No."

Butterfly: "Then I will."  The butterfly lifts off.

Bee: "Thanks for the shade. You make a good umbrella, Madam Butterfly. Come back anytime." 

A honey bee and a butterfly, a Western tiger swallowtail sharing some nectar on a Mexican sunflower in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee and a butterfly, a Western tiger swallowtail sharing some nectar on a Mexican sunflower in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"This flower isn't big enough for both of us!" The Western tiger swallowtail lifts off, providing an umbrella—a little shade—on a triple-digit temperature day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"This flower isn't big enough for both of us!" The Western tiger swallowtail lifts off, providing an umbrella—a little shade—on a triple-digit temperature day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)