Bug Squad

No wall can separate a Gulf Fritillary from its host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora). The Gulf Frit Agraulis vanillae), an orangish-reddish butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, fluttered over our six-foot fence, heading straight for the passionflower vine.

The black-tailed bumble bee wasn't flying very well. You wouldn't, either, if you were trying to fly with a backpack on your back. Except this wasn't a backpack but sticky pollen.

What's better than a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) on yellow mustard? Not much. Both are signs of early spring. Mustard is popping up all over, along with oxalyis and wild radish. The earth is warming. Spring is here. Get ready.

Congratulations to Hoang Danh Derrick Nguyen, a graduate student in the Christian Nansen lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, for his recent publication in the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development.

Think spring. Think ceanothus. Think salvia. Think pollinators. Despite the rain forecast, the open house and plant sale at the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the University of California, Davis, will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, April 7.