Bug Squad

The crab spider didn't go away hungry. Camouflaged in the petals of a sedum, the cunning predator waits patiently for its prey. An unsuspecting blowfly lands inches from the crab spider, unaware of its presence, and crawls toward it.

Carpenter bees pack pollen, too. A carpenter bee (Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex) visiting our gaura last weekend was packing bright yellow pollen, a sharp contrast against her black body.

Dragonflies occasionally hang around our fish pond to catch flying insects, such as flies and mosquitoes. Last weekend a gorgeous flame skimmer swooped down in our garden--a few yards from our fish pond--and landed on a bamboo stake. She absolutely glowed in the late afternoon sun.

Florian Altermatt (right) describes himself as a "keen biologist and naturalist." "I'm interested in community ecology, metapopulation, biologoy and evolutionary biology. Besides that, my pleasures are--as Vladimir Nabokov said once-the most intense known to man: writing and butterfly hunting.

The Campus Buzzway is buzzing with bees. The quarter-acre wildflower garden, located by the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.