Bug Squad

Ever seen a Phyciodes mylitta, aka Mylitta Crescent? It's a butterfly that breeds on thistles, such as Cirsium, Carduus and Silybum. The one that visited our yard June 17 wasn't visiting a thistle, however. It landed on a cactus. It's an orange and black butterfly (orange wings with black markings).

As National Pollinator Month winds down, let's visit a "morning" carpenter bee and an evening primrose. The evening primrose, Oenothera biennis, native to the Americas, is unique in that it blooms as night (as its name implies) and dies back at noon.

Please, please, forget to eat our forget-me-nots! But it's not going to happen. So here we are in our Vacaville pollinator garden, looking at the Chinese forget-me-nots. We see honey bees, leafcutter bees, syrphid flies, lady beetles, cabbage white butterflies, and other critters foraging.

A honey bee heads for a patch of California golden poppies. She finds a blossom she likes. Bee: "Hey, Goldie Locks, I'm here to collect some nectar and pollen." Goldie Locks: "You're what?" Bee: "I want to collect some of your nectar and pollen.

Sometimes you hear about bored teenagers trashing bee hives by deliberately throwing rocks at them or gleefully tipping them over. But a truck driver who deliberately plows through a bee yard on private property and crushes 40 colonies? That's unreal.