Bug Squad

Hurray for the red, white and blue! One more day until we celebrate the birth of our country, Independence Day, and the patriotic colors will be out in force. Insects, also, can be red, white and blue. Take the red flameskimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata).

They're good bees. You can take that to the bank! The excitement began when Martin Guerena, an integrated pest management (IPM) specialist with the City of Davis, encountered a native bee nesting site Wednesday in front of the U.S. Bank, corner of 3rd and F streets, Davis.

Beekeepers don't like their "girls" foraging in California buckeye (Aesculus californica) It's poisonous to bees.

It's sort of like "The Beauty and the Beast." Or "The Pollinator and the Pest." A gorgeous Western Tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus), seeking nectar from a butterfly bush, touched down and began to feed. It didn't take long for the butterfly to spot a stink bug crawling on top of the blossom.

If you've ever been "up close and personal" to a damselfly, you might have seen the water mites. Naturalist Greg Karofelas of Davis, an associate of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, has not only seen them, he has photographed them. See his truly spectacular photo below.