Bug Squad

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.

The creative folks at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, have done it again. Among the many activities at their recent "Snuggle Bugs" open house was a "mite/art station.