Bug Squad

Just call it "my old flame." Well, it's not mine, but it is a flame of sorts, a flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) and it's firecracker red. We see this species frequenting our pollinator garden in Vacaville, which includes a fish pond, flower beds, and bamboo stakes for their perches.

Bee-hold, the eye of a bee-holder. When you have a "Bee Crossing" sign in your pollinator garden, odds are that bees will cross right in front of that sign. And it's not always a honey bee.

Ever seen a Gulf Fritillary butterfly laying an egg? The Gulf Frit (Agraulis vanillae), an orangish-reddish butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, lays its eggs on its host plant, Passiflora. When you see its silver-spangled underwings, you may think there are two different butterflies.

Sometimes they barely notice you. Such was the case of a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, spotted on our Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a bee worth? Priceless.

Mark your calendar! You won't want to miss the summer weekend open houses at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane. Both are free, open to the public and family friendly.