Bug Squad

"Go ahead, make my day." So said actor Clint Eastwood, as the character Harry Callahan, in the 1983 movie, Sudden Impact, after a robber grabbed a hostage. "Dirty Harry" was known for blowing away the bad guys. Clashes and confrontations often ended with blow flies on bad guys.

Well, it's not really a Halloween butterfly, but it is orange. The Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) visits us more than the politicians do at Election Time. Last Sunday we spotted four Skippers in our backyard. Only two politicians skipped to our front door.

Remember the 1998 U.S. vice presidential debate when Sen. Lloyd Bentsen told Sen Dan Quayle: "I knew Jack Kennedy, and you're no Jack Kennedy!" Well, in the insect world, there's a fly that looks a lot like a honey bee, but it's no honey bee.

Ladybugs love our Russian sage. Ladybugs, aka ladybird beetles, eat aphids, which are pests in the garden. The ladybugs are welcome. The aphids are not. Belonging to the family Coccinellidae, ladybugs look resplendent in their bright red or orange wing covers, dotted with spots.

Pity the poor caterpillar. Here you are, minding your own business, and this tachinid fly comes along and lays eggs in your head. Good day for the tachinid fly. Bad day for the caterpillar.