Bug Squad

Stop and smell the roses. Yes, we should all do that. We should take time out of our busy schedules to appreciate the beauty of nature, the beauty of roses, the beauty of a single yellow rose. But sometimes there's a bonus in those roses, depending on whether you like jumping spiders or honey bees.

So, you're looking for some host plants to attract butterflies, like monarchs and pipevine swallowtails? You're yearning to see monarch eggs, caterpillars and chrysalids on milkweed. Ditto for the pipevine swallowtails on their host plant, Dutchman's pipe.

Honey bees were all over the Japanese anemone (Anemone hupehensis) on Monday, Oct. 19 at the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens, Santa Rosa. They just could not get enough of the colorful flower, also known as a windflower or thimbleweed.

Strange weather we're having here in Central California. After soaring into the 90s, the temperatures pushed again into the 80s today (Oct.21). The Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) are "making the most-est" of their host plant, passionflower vines. Blossoms keep popping up like so much popcorn.

The rain that pounded Northern California on Oct. 18--complete with thunder and lightening--also drenched a few honey bees that waited out the storm.