Bug Squad

What's Mother's Day without moths? And caterpillars? Moth specimens and a fun caterpillar craft activity will highlight a pre-Mother's Day open house from 1 to 4 p.m.

So you want to learn about native bees... Just drop by the Davis Public Library next Thursday night.

Honey bees aren't that much into roses. Wild roses, yes. Cultivated roses, not so much. Given a choice, they'll take the lavenders, mints and salvia (sage) over the roses any time.

Monarch butterflies, says Sonia Altizer, are "globally distributed and best known for undertaking a spectacular annual migration in parts of North America.

If you're growing a tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii) in your yard, you won't need a stop sign or a traffic light to encourage vehicles to slow down--they will automatically when they see this spectacular plant. it's a traffic stopper.