Bug Squad

Watching honey bees zero in on the zinnias: Zounds! Zinnias, known throughout the world as showy and easy-to-grow flowers, are as colorful as they are attractive to bees. Last week we watched a honey bee head toward a zinnia, grab some nectar, buzz around the blossom, and return again and again.

Bees, butterflies and sunflowers at the California State Fair? Yes. The state fair, which opened July 12 and ends July 28, is a good place to see a bee observation hive, honey bees on sunflowers, carpenter bees on petunias, and butterflies in the Insect Pavilion, aka Bug Barn.

It pays to have a pond. A pond attracts dragonflies and damselflies. Last weekend, though, we spotted a damselfly a good 65 feet away from our pond. It touched down on our passion flower vine (Passiflora). Lights, camera, action...

Quick! What butterfly is depicted on the California State Fair monorail train? Hint: It's the state insect. "What, we have a state insect?" you ask. Yes, and it's the California dogface butterfly (Zerene eurydice).

Just call it a missed opportunity. Catmint (genus Nepeta) draws scores of insects, from honey bees to leafcutter bees to European wool carder bees. It also draws spiders. We usually see a cellar spider (family Pholcidae) trapping prey in its web.