Bug Squad

Don't look now, but a garden spider almost grabbed a tiger by the tail. The tiger? That would be the Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus. The ragged wings of the butterfly (below) show signs of a close encounter with a predator--maybe another spider, a praying mantis or a bird.

The drama unfolds slowly. The crafty praying mantis that's perched atop a zinnia raises its spiked, grasping forelegs and silently waits for unsuspecting prey. A sweat bee cruises by. Then a second one. Then a third. They do not land and the praying mantis does not move.

Ah, the little intricacies of life... We were walking along a stretch of the coastal town of Bodega Bay when we spotted something we'd never seen before: a bubble on a syrphid fly. Syrphid flies, also known as hover flies or flower flies, are pollinators, just like honey bees.

During the day, European wool carder bees (so named because the females collect or "card" plant fuzz for their nests) forage on our catmint and lamb's ear. These bees, Anthidium manicatum, are about the size of a honey bee, but with striking yellow and black markings.

To commemorate National Honey Bee Day, Jefferson Exchange host Geoffrey Riley of Jefferson Public Radio, Southern Oregon University, recently booked a trio of experts to talk about honey bees. The broadcast, aired Aug.