Bug Squad

Henrietta, our Stagmomantis limbata praying mantis, perches on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). She is as patient as she is persistent. The drone fly, aka syrphid and also known as a hover fly or flower fly, makes the fatal mistake of touching down on the same blossom. Henrietta eyes it hungrily.

Talk about the unexpected. Look! says Jim. He pauses by the kitchen counter. "Over there! he says, pointing. I don't see anything except the half-filled coffee pot. Then I see it. "There," as in over there, is a praying mantis clinging to the wall and staring at us.

If you're interested in Zika virus research, you'll want to attend Lark Coffey's seminar on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 4:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall, University of California, Davis.

The Frit and the fly...or the butterfly and the fly... That would be the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) and the syrphid fly (family Syrphidae), aka flower fly or hover fly. They meet on a beautiful autumn day on an equally beautiful Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia).

Where are you most likely to encounter a rheophilic insect? If you know the answer to that, you could have scored at the Linnaean Games competition at the recent meeting of the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA). The answer: "In moving streams.