Bug Squad

So you're growing milkweed for the first time--or found some milkweed--and you're trying to figure out how to identify a monarch egg. Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves--generally--but we've seen them on stems and on the leaf edges.

Butterfly expert Robert "Bob" Michael Pyle, founder of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, is not only a national award-winning author, a teacher, a public speaker and a conservationist--but now he's on screen. Well, sort of "on screen.

Two adults, apparently not science aficionados, recently asked me: "What is entomology?" Quick answer: insect science. "What is a monarch?" Quick answer: An orange and black butterfly that's the icon of the butterfly world. Science.

When a monarch butterfly fluttered into the Davis garden of naturalist Greg Kareofelas and laid an egg on his narrowleaf milkweed, it marked the beginning of a story that ended with the flight of Ruth.

So I'm a praying mantis and being a top-notch real estate developer, I've located the best place in the pollinator garden. I have acquired the proper plans and permits to orchestrate complete control over the property. Ah, the fragrance of the African blue basil. The tasty nectar.