Bug Squad

If Barbie had a praying mantis, it would be pretty in pink. Do you think Barbie would fawn over a praying mantis nestled in a bed of pink zinnia petals? We spotted this Stagmomantis limbata in our living laboratory (pollinator garden), and admired her stance. Then Ms.

Bring on the praying mantises! An enthusiastic crowd is expected at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 27 in Room 1124 of Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, University of California, Davis. It's free and family friendly. Parking is also free.

A green bottle fly lands on a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in a Vacaville pollinator garden.

Hear that buzz? National Honey Bee Day is Saturday, Aug. 19 and you're invited to join this oh-so-sweet celebration! Launched in 2009, National Honey Bee Day takes place on the third Saturday of August. The event originated when a small group of beekeepers petitioned the U.S.

They look as if they belong in a circus or in a cartoon. Long dangly legs, elongated body, and long, four-segmented antennae topped with a small club. But there they were, stilt bugs, foraging on evening primrose at dawn in our "living laboratory"--a pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif.