Bug Squad

The locusts are coming! The locusts are coming! No, not the one below, a banded-winged grasshopper (family Acrididae and subfamily Oedipodinae) that we spotted west of the UC Davis campus--and identified by Steve Heydon, senior museum scientist at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

A gold rush of sorts. When the female Valley carpenter bees forage among the passion flowers (Passiflora), they turn from solid black to a mixture of gold and black. The pollen on their head, thorax and abdomen stands out like magical gold dust, as if sprinkled by the Good Fairy.

The California Buckeye (Junonia coenia), with its bold eyespots and white bars, is an easily recognizable butterfly. The problem: getting close enough for a photo and then patiently waiting for it to open its wings. At the first indication of danger, it flutters away.

In the big, beautiful butterfly world, the Fiery Skipper stands out as the most common urban butterfly in California. It may not be as showy as the Monarch, the Gulf Fritilliary and the Painted Lady, but the Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) holds its own.

Yes, it's back. The Gulf Frit is definitely back.