Bug Squad

Oh, what a (moth) night this will be! The Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis is celebrating National Moth Night on Saturday, July 30 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. and you're invited. The insect museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane.

Mark your calendar! The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, is celebrating National Moth Night on Saturday, July 30 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.--both indoors in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building at 555 Crocker Lane, and outdoors, within a short walking distance.

It definitely wasn't a case of "brotherly love" when a predator--maybe a bird or a praying mantis--grabbed the California Sister in our pollinator garden. The butterfly, Adelpha bredowii californica, didn't survive.

Oh, the patience of a crab spider. It lies in wait on the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in the hot sun. It scuttles back and forth, extending its legs. It's an ambush predator, ready to inject venom.

When you're in your garden, look up. Sometimes you'll see a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar outlined against the sky, munching away on its host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora). The bright orange caterpillars can be as striking as the adults (Agraulis vanillae).