Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you go hungry.

Take the case of the huge jumping spider (a female Phidippus audax or bold jumping spider, as identified by Wade Spencer of the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology) hanging out in our Spanish lavender. Hey, pretend I'm not here!  It stealthily crawls up and down the stems, blending into the shadows. It summits the flowers, looking for bees.  Where are the bees? Where is my dinner?

The predator and the prey. The hunter and the hunted. The jumping spider, with four pairs of eyes. The honey bee with five eyes (two large compound eyes and three smaller ocelli eyes). The jumping spider's bite is venom. The honey bee's sting is venom.

If they meet, it will be deadly. The spider will shoot venom in the bee, paralyzing it.

Meanwhile, the honey bees are buzzing from flower to flower, some oblivious to the dark shadow lurking near them. No ambush today. 

Sometimes you go hungry.

If you like writing with light (photography), then you'll probably love capturing images of honey bees spinning like helicopters.

In the late afternoon, when the light softens, head over to your favorite Spanish lavender patch. Pull up a chair, listen to the buzz of the bees, and watch them spin their wings somewhat like helicopters do their blades.

Such was the case yesterday. The bees were buzzing so loud in the patch of lavender, Lavandula stoechas, that they sounded like spring unleashed. That buzz you hear is their wings; they've been recorded at 200 beats per second.  Honey bees can be long-distance travelers; they can forage up to five or six miles, and can move about 15 miles per hour.

Those streaming purple petals topping the bloom are actually sterile bracts--Wikipedia defines a bract as "a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale." The bracts resemble rabbit ears, but ironically, Spanish lavender is rabbit-resistant and deer resistant (which is  probably why there are no deer or rabbits in our urban yard!)

Meanwhile, if you've been wanting to learn more about honey bees, mark your calendar for these events in Davis and Woodland, Yolo County.

California Honey Festival: The inaugural California Honey Festival will take place Saturday, May 6 in downtown Woodland. Associated with the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, it will be held outdoors (Main Street), encompassing four blocks. It's free and open to the public. Expect beekeeper talks, booths, vendors, music, mead, honey tasting and lots of fun, says Amina Harris, director of the Honey and Pollinator Center See http://californiahoneyfestival.com.

UC Davis Bee Symposium: The Honey and Pollination Center and the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology are sponsoring their third annual Bee Symposium, "Keeping Bees Healthy," on Sunday, May 7 in the UC Davis Conference Center. Keynote speaker is noted apiculturist Steve Sheppard of Thurber Professor of Apiculture and chair of the Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, Wash. Sheppard specializes in population genetics and evolution of honey bees, insect introductions and mechanisms of genetic differentiation. He also heads the Apis Molecular Systematics Laboratory. Registration is underway at http://honey.ucdavis.edu/events/2017-bee-symposium.

Western Apicultural Society (WAS): Founded 40 year ago at UC Davis, WAS will return to its roots for its next conference, set from Sept. 5-8 in Davis. Its president is Eric Mussen, UC Extension apiculturist emeritus, who is based in  the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. He's a familiar face; he's one of the three WAS co-founders and he's serving his sixth term as president. The conference open to the public. Registration is underway on the WAS website, http://www.westernapiculturalsociety.org.

Let's wing it, they said.

And they did.

But this event wasn't "winged"; it was well planned and rooted in educational information.

Wings? A reference to the flutter of the ever decreasing butterfly wings. The occasion? The inaugural "Wing It" Butterfly Summit, held last Saturday, March 25 at Annie's Annuals and Perennials in Richmond.

A panel of butterfly experts fielded questions focused on "What can we do to help the declining monarch population, as well as other struggling butterfly populations?" Among the speakers were Mia Monroe of the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation, Tora Rocha of the Pollinator Posse and Suzanne Clark of the UC Master Gardeners, Sonoma County.

The speakers advocated that we garden for butterflies by planting their host plants (where adult butterflies lay their eggs and where the offspring subsist) and by planting nectar plants (food source of adult butterflies). Other points: We must preserve their habitats;  help establish food-embellished migratory corridors for monarchs heading to overwintering sites; avoid the use of pesticides; and support research.

“Everything you do affects the local ecosystem,” said Tora Rocha, Oakland parks supervisor and founder of the Pollinator Posse at the Gardens at Lake Merritt, Oakland. Her group not only rears monarchs but creates habitat in the “urban jungle.” They are also heavily involved in protecting other pollinators, including honey bees and native bees, and their habitat. They are expanding their Oakland base to encompass members statewide.

The Pollinator Posse, geared toward protecting pollinators and creating habitat, also urged that we all get involved in conservation efforts, including rearing monarchs--bringing in the eggs and caterpillars from the outdoors to protect them from predators. Many "Monarch Moms" and "Monarch Dads" use zippered meshed containers, keeping the offspring safe  from tachinid flies and wasps that lay their eggs in caterpillars and chrysalids.

Facilitator Mia Monroe, volunteer with the Xerces Society, coordinator of the Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count, and Muir Woods Park Ranger, pointed out the alarming monarch statistics:

In less than 20 years, the number of monarchs at overwintering sites in California has declined by 74 percent, a figure comparable to what's happening to the overwintering population in Mexico.

Among the other speakers:

• Amber Hasselbring, executive director of San Francisco's Nature in the City, who is establishing Green Hairstreak corridors in San Francisco neighborhoods.
• Andy Liu, landscape architect and garden designer specializing in butterfly habitat
• Sal Levinson, author, entomologist and noted speaker on butterfly habitats. She authored Butterfly Papercrafts Butterfly Papercrafts: 21 Indoor Projects for Outdoor Learning,  a book geared for youngsters ages 5-12 and described as a key educational resource for teachers.
• Suzanne Clarke, UC Master Gardener from Sonoma County, who urged the participants to plant milkweed for monarchs: “Milkweed: If you plant it, they will come.” She sported a yellow t-shirt lettered with just that and a monarch image.
• Tim Wong, aquatic biologist at the California Academy of Science, and Barbara Deutsch who are involved in repopulating pipevine swallowtails in the San Francisco area

The summit drew some 250 to 300 people, who listened to the talks, visited the educational booths,  learned about the metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult, and what to plant to attract butterflies. Vendors offered books, posters, T-shirts, plants and butterfly habitats.

Especially of interest was the supplied list of Bay Area host plants for various species of butterflies:

• Aesculus californica (California buckeye): Host plant of Echo Spring Azure butterfly
• Angelica tomentosa (woolly angelica) and A. archangelica: Anise Swallowtail
• Anisodontea sp. 'Strybing Beauty" (cape mallow): Vanessids, such as Vanessa atalanta, the Red Admiral
• Antirrhinums (snapdragons): Common Buckeye
• Asclepias (milkweed): Monarchs
• Asters: Field Cresentspot
• Ceanothus (all species): California Tortoiseshell, Echo Spring Azure, Gray Hairstreak
• Daucus carota (wild carrot, Queen Anne's lace): Anise Swallowtail
• Eriogonums (California buckwheat): Gray Hairstreak, Acmon Blue
• Foeniculum vulgare (fennel): Anise Swallowtail
• Grasses (California native Boutelouas, Festucas, Melicas, Muhlenbergias, Nassellas): Skippers
• Hollyhocks: Painted Lady, West Coast Lady, Common Checkered Skipper, Gray Hairstreak
• Keckiellas: Checkerspots, Common Buckeye
• Lathyrus (perennial natives, such as sweet pea): Silvery Blues
• Lavatera assurgentiflora (malvia): West Coast Lady
• Lippia repens (mat grass): Common Buckeye
• Lotus crassifolus variety otayensis (also known as Otay Mountain lotus): Acmon Blue
• Lupines (native perennial lupines like albifrons, arboreus, latifolius parishii, polyphyllus, propinquus, sericatus); Acmon Blue, some hairstreaks
• Mimulus aurantiacus (sticky monkey flower): Checkerspots, Common Buckeye
• Nasturtiums: Cabbage White
• Passiflora caerulea and some others (avoid bright red varies as they may be toxic): Gulf Fritillaries
• Penstemons: Checkerspots, Common Buckeye
• Sidalceas (checkered mallow): Painted Lady, West Coast Lady, Common Checkered Skipper, Gray Hairsteak
• Sphaeralceas (mallow): Gray Hairstreak, Painted Lady, West Coast Lady, Common Checkered Skipper

Good Bay Area nectar plants for butterflies, according to the Butterfly Summit, include California buckeye, brodiaecas (cluster lilies), milkweed, asters, butterfly bush (Buddlejas), cosmos, coreopsis, echiums, blanketflower (Gaillardia), dahlias, mint, rosemary,  lavenders, marigolds, rosemary, phacelias, sunflowers,  Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia), Salvia clevelandii, Gilia capitata, Suromgas (lilac), verbenas, and zinnias.

Monarchs are especially fond of these nectar sources: butterfly bush (Buddleja), Mexican sunflower (Tithonia), asters, Echiums (Echium fastuosum or Pride of Madeira), and verbenas.

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) says that "providing milkweeds and other nectar-rich flowers that bloom where and when monarchs need them is one of the most significant actions you can take to support monarch butterfly populations."--Monarch Nectar Plants, Inland California.

NWF also urges everyone to plant natives: "Although monarchs use a variety of nectar plant species, including exotic invasives such as ice plant and cape ivy, we recommend planting native species. Native plants are often more beneficial to ecoystems, are adapted to local soils and climates, and help promote biological diversity. They can also be easier to maintain in the landscape, once established."

Xerces Society offers a wealth of information on its website on monarchs and milkweed.

There's gold on them thar roses.

No, not the kind of gold found during the California Gold Rush (1848–1855) that brought some 300,000 folks to the Golden State.

These are gold eggs from the multicolored Asian beetle, Harmonia axyridis, that we found on our Sparkle-and-Shine roses last week.  The aphids are sparkling and the lady beetles are shining.

A native of eastern Asia, the multicolored Asian beetle was introduced in California by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1916, and in 1964 -1965 for the biological control of pecan aphids. Later, from 1978 through 1982,  released beetles took hold in Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

The multicolored Asian beetles are tiny, about 7 mm long and 5.5 mm wide. Spots? They range from as many as 19 spots to no spots at all. Color? From red to orange to yellow and (rarely) black. A key identifying characteristic is the black M-shaped mark behind its head.

The beetles, commonly known as ladybugs (but they're beetles, not bugs), are from the family Coccinellidae and they eat lots and lots of aphids and other soft-bodied insects, including scale insects and mites.

Aphids are not your friends. With their piercing mouthparts, they suck the juices right out of your plants, including your favorite roses. Lady beetles are your friends. They have voracious appetites and can gobble up 50 to 75 aphids a day.

Lush new growth often means a gathering of aphids, which means a gathering of lady beetles. Look closely and you might seen a cluster or row of about 20 oval eggs on the leaves. 

That's the gold.

And so the cycle continues. 

(Note: If you're looking for more roses, the California Center for Urban Horticulture, UC Davis, has just announced its 10th annual Rose Days will be Saturday and Sunday, May 6-7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Foundation Plant Services parking lot, 455 Hopkins Road, UC Davis campus.)