Bug Squad

You've probably read the children's book, "Where's Waldo?" Waldo wanders around the world, gets lost in the crowd or scenery, and it's your job to find him. Where'd he go? If you have a praying mantis in your yard, you probably play "Where's Waldo?" a lot. In our yard, it's "Walda.

So, here you are, a honey bee nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. All's right with the world, at least in your world. You're sipping nectar to take home to your colony and suddenly...a buzz.

Interviewer: "Hey, Gulf Fritillary! What happened to you? Something take a chunk out of your wings?" Miss Gulf Frit: "I dunno. I was just fluttering around the passionflower vine and something grabbed me." Interviewer: "Do you have any idea what happened?" Miss Gulf Frit: "Sorry, no.

If you're an entomologist, an agriculturist, a gardener or an insect enthusiast, you've probably seen the life cycle of a lady beetle, aka ladybug: from the egg to the larva to the pupa to the adult.

The spider failed to snag a butterfly, so it went for Plan Bee. That would be the honey bee, Apis mellifera. The bee is usually foraging for nectar and pollen and not that aware of her surroundings, especially a cunning and very hungry spider.