Bug Squad

Sometimes you can't get within 20 feet of a Western tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papillo rutulus). Sometimes it's a matter of inches.

Mama said there'd be days like this, There'd be days like this, Mama said... When Van Morrison wrote the lyrics to "Days Like This," a song popularized by The Shirelles, he probably wasn't thinking of a mama garden spider or her prey.

Sometimes the beauty of a bee simply takes your breath away. Especially when the late afternoon sun backlights it. Yes! All's right with the world. For just a moment in time, there are no pests, parasites or pesticides. There are no viruses, diseases, malnutrition and stress.

What's that little green bug on the head of the Gaillardia? It's soft-bodied. It's miniscule. It's sucking plant juices. An aphid! We captured an image of this little green bugger shortly after we purchased several plants from an area nursery.

It was not a good day to be a honey bee. But it was a good day to be a spider. For days we watched honey bees, sweat bees and syrphid flies visit a patch of alyssum and African daisies in our yard. Their floral visits did not go unnoticed.