A gravid praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, crawls out of a patch of African blue basil, and begins checking out the honey bees. Decisions. Decisions. Dozens of them are buzzing around, gathering nectar for their colony. They are not aware she is there.
For the first butterfly, it was the right place at the right time. An alfalfa or sulfur butterfly (Colias eurytheme) fluttered into our pollinator garden in Vacaville to sip some nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia). It lingered for several minutes.
Ladybugs--actually "lady beetles" as these insects are beetles--know exactly where to lay their cluster of eggs--where the aphids and other prey are. Thoughtful of the moms, isn't it? Moms are like that. Look on or under your rosebush leaves. Look under your milkweed leaves.
Remember when UC Davis Professor Jason Bond discovered a new genus of trapdoor spider on a sandy beach at Moss Landing State Park, Monterey County, and launched a naming contest for the species?
