Bug Squad

So many flowers. So many pollinators. So many floral visitors. On every field trip, we see something new and different, such as the male long-horned bee, Melissodes communis (below) on salvia and the female sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, on a Mexican hat flower.

If you're craving to find out more about insects--specifically how to FIND them--then you'll want to attend the Bohart Museum of Entomologys open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, June 9. It's free and open to the public.

If you've studied bees, you know that there are approximately 20,000 described species of bees in the world. Most people are familiar with honey bees and bumble bees, but they don't know about "those big black bees" (carpenter bees) or "those green metallic bees" (sweat bees).

It's a bird, it's a plane... It's not Superman. It's a flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata). We spotted this dragonfly in our yard recently and crouched down for a low angle, framing it against the sky. This is one insect that everyone notices and admires. Except maybe its prey...

The next time you're around a lamb's ear--no, not the animal, the plant (Stachys byzantina)--watch for buzzing bees. Especially the European wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum). The females card the fuzz from the soft, silvery-gray leaves for their nests.