Bug Squad

Eye-catching zinnias grace the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, the half-acre bee friendly garden planted in the fall of 2009 next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis.

They can fool you. Just like replica designer bags, shoes and sunglasses meant to look like the real thing (think Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo and Prada), those digger bees on Bodega Head, overlooking Bodega Bay, look like bumble bees. Especially the females.

Makes sense that the sunflower bee (Svastra spp.) forages on the genus Cosmos. Cosmos (also the common name) is a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae. Sunflower bee: sunflower family. A specialist bee.

Oh, the critters we overlook. If you have flowering artichokes, expect to see honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees and syrphid flies foraging on them. And a few spiders waiting for dinner. Don't expect to see a mayfly. The mayfly habitat is in or around water.

Lynn Kimsey knows her bugs.