Bug Squad

There it was. A green caterpillar, aka larva, aka worm, occupied a blanket flower (Gaillardia) last Friday morning in the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre pollinator garden on Bee Biology Road at the University of California, Davis. Soon a honey bee from the nearby Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.

If you're passionate about Passiflora (passion flower vine), you're probably passionate about those Gulf Fritillary butterflies (Agraulis vanillae). It's November with temperatures in the unseasonal mid-80s, and the butterflies are laying eggs like there's no tomorrow.

If you want to learn about butterflies, "there's an app for that." And a free one, at that.

Bee specialists like to point out that the yellowjacket is a carnivore and the honey bee is a vegetarian. They are, indeed.

If there ever were a bug just perfect for Halloween, that would be the orange and black Harlequin cabbage bug, Murgantia histrionica, also known as a calico bug or fire bug. Its brilliant, distinctive colors bring back memories of a circus clown.