It was a good day for a praying mantis.

It was not a good day for a honey bee.

Here's what happened in the "Daily Insect News": a gravid praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, ambushed and ate a honey bee on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville pollinator garden.  

In this image, of a mantis snacking on a bee, do you know which one is a native of the United States and which two are not?

The plant? It's a non-native. It's native to Mexico and Central America.

The honey bee? It's a non-native. European colonists brought the honey bee (Apis mellifera) to what is now the United States in 1622.  Specifically, they arrived at the Jamestown colony (Virginia). Factoid: The Native Americans called the honey bee "the white man's fly." Another factoid: California had no honey bees until 1853 when a beekeeper brought his colonies to the San Jose area. 

And the praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata? It's considered native to North America, particularly prevalent in the southwestern United States. Commonly known as "bordered mantis, "bosque mantis," "Arizona mantis" or "New Mexico praying mantis," it is green or light brown and can reach three inches in length, according to Wikipedia.

We've seen mantids snag not only honey bees, but monarchs, Western tiger swallowtails, Gulf Fritillaries, skippers, syrphid flies and long-horned bees.

Never once--not once--have we seen this species grab and dine on a stink bug, milkweed bug or lygus bug.

Maybe a little menu planning is in order, Ms. Mantis? Maybe you should check out the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program site to determine which is a pest and which is a beneficial insect?

Nah, just kidding...everything in the garden must eat to survive. 

No assassinations today! But an "assassination attempt."

There it was, a leafhopper assassin bug, Zelus renardii,  waiting for prey atop a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola in a Vacaville pollinator garden. Yes, it's native to North America.

The assassin bugs, family Reduviidae, are ambush predators. When they ambush a predator, they stab it with their  rostrum, inject venom, and suck out the juices. Or as UC Berkeley entomologists Jerry Powell and Charles Hogue write in their book, California Insects, "The victims, which include all kinds of insects, are snatched by quick movements of the forelegs, and immediately subdued by a powerful venom injected through the beak."

UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) says that "Assassin bug adults and nymphs (immatures) have an elongate head and body and long legs. The narrow head has rounded, beady eyes and long, hinged, needlelike mouthparts. Adults and nymphs can walk rapidly when disturbed or capturing prey. Adults tend not to fly."

"Assassin bugs can occur on almost any terrestrial plant including row and tree crops and gardens and landscapes. All species are predators of invertebrates or true parasites of vertebrates," UC IPM relates. "Most assassin bugs feed on insects including caterpillars, larvae of leaf beetles and sawflies, and adults and nymphs of other true bugs. Nymphs and adults ambush or stalk prey, impale them with their tubular mouthparts, inject venom, and suck the body contents. Zelus renardii produces a sticky material that helps it adhere to plant surfaces and ensnare prey."

Some 7000 species of assassin bugs reside throughout the world. When they feed on such agricultural pests as fleahoppers, lygus bugs, aphids, caterpillar eggs and larvae, they are considered biological control agents. 

However, "assassin bugs are not considered to be important in the biological control of pests, unlike predatory groups such as bigeyed bugs and minute pirate bugs," UC IPM says. "Assassin bugs are general predators and also feed on bees, lacewings, lady beetles, and other beneficial species. Certain species feed on the blood of birds, mammals, or reptiles, including conenose bugs and kissing bugs (Reduviidae: Triatominae)."

The one we saw today?

A long-horned bee, Melissodes agilis, stopped for a sip of nectar, spotted the assassin bug, and buzzed off, leaving only its shadow behind.

Folks will do just about anything to remove cockroaches from their homes, but when it comes to UC Davis Picnic Day, you can't remove people from them.

Nor would UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology want that. Roach Races are an integral part of Picnic Day.

Hundreds of cheering fans showed up at Briggs Hall for the department's Roach Races, held Saturday, April 23 during the 108th annual UC Davis Picnic Day.

Entomology students organized and directed the races, but the real heroes and heroines were the American roaches, reared by UC Davis entomologists and ready to run.

Spectators applauded them wildly, but gasped when a few of the two-inch insects tried to escape into the crowd.

Cockroaches, which belong to the order Blattodea,  are primarily nocturnal and “have a tendency to scatter when disturbed,” according to the UC Statewide Integated Pest Management Program (UC IPM).

That they did during the Roach Races.

“There are five species of cockroaches in California that are commonly regarded as pests: German cockroach, brownbanded cockroach, oriental cockroach, American cockroach, and Turkestan cockroach," according to UC IPM. "Indoor cockroaches are known as significant pests of public health, and outdoor species that find their way inside are considered serious nuisance pests as well as potential public health pests. Most cockroaches harbor within moist, dark crevices when not foraging for food. They crawl quickly and may climb rough surfaces. A few species can fly short distances or glide as adults during warm nights, but most have no wings, reduced wings, or otherwise do not fly."

UC IPM says that "Indoor infestations of cockroaches are also important sources of allergens and have been identified as risk factors for development of asthma in children, especially within multi-unit housing environments. The levels of allergens present have been directly correlated to both cockroach density and the conditions that contribute to heavy infestations, such as housing disrepair and poor sanitary conditions.”

Sometimes youngsters participating in Maggot Art, another insect-activity hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology during Picnic Day, get so attached to the maggots creating art for them that they ask to take them home.

Not so with the UC Davis Roach Races. Not a single person--not a single one--asked to take one home.