Bug Squad

If you're wondering which bug won "Bug of the Year" in Emmet Brady's Insect News Network (INN) radio poll, it's not the honey bee. But there is a "bee" in its name. It's the "long-nosed bee fly.

Apparently they're not parasitized. The three queen bumble bees (Bombus melanopygus) we found circling our porch lights the night on Jan. 9 appear to be fine.

If you have a passionflower vine (Passiflora), check to see what insects or stages of insects are making this plant their home.

You can quench your thirst. And then you can "quince" your thirst. That would be a honey bee on a flowering quince. Yes, the flowering quince are flowering. And none too soon in our drab landscape, nearly devoid of color. Today the honey bees seems to be in a feeding frenzy.

What's for lunch? If you're a lady beetle (aka ladybug), a good bet is you'll have one of those yummy, plant-sucking aphids. In fact, you'll eat your fill. Please do.