- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When you venture into your pollinator garden, look for the beauty, color, diversity and the intensity that surrounds you. You will be astounded.
- A honey bee nectaring on lavender in a soft-pastel scenario.
- A katydid nymph crawling (backlit) on a blanketflower, Gaillardia.
- A Gulf Fritillary butterfly, Agraulis vanillae, nectaring on Lantana
- A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a Cosmo
- A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, exiting a lavender patch.
You're the gardener, and you'll be using your garden tools...pruning shears, spade, trowel, garden fork, hoe, hand rake...
But another good garden tool--and an indispensable one--is the camera. You just never know when a buddy shows up in the garden...
![A honey bee nectars on lavender in a Vacaville garden. The soft pastel colors almost resemble a painting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A honey bee nectars on lavender in a Vacaville garden. The soft pastel colors almost resemble a painting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107754.jpg)
![A katydid nymph crawls on a blanketflower, Gaillaria. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A katydid nymph crawls on a blanketflower, Gaillaria. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107755.jpg)
![A Gulf Fritillary butterfly, Agraulis vanillae, nectaring on lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A Gulf Fritillary butterfly, Agraulis vanillae, nectaring on lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107757.jpg)
![A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a Cosmo and looking for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a Cosmo and looking for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107758.jpg)
![Goodbye! A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, exits a lavender patch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Goodbye! A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, exits a lavender patch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107759.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ever seen a honey bee and a butterfly sharing a lavender blossom?
Just in time for National Pollinator Week, June 17-23, we saw this today.
What could be more pollinator friendly than that?
The honey bee, Apis mellifera, and the Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, meet on many a blossom. The butterfly usually flutters away, departing first.
This time the bee left first.
As Pollinator Partnership says on its website:
"Pollinator Week 2024 is a celebration of the vital role that pollinators play in our ecosystems, economies, and agriculture. Under the inspiring theme Vision 2040: Thriving Ecosystems, Economies, and Agriculture, this year's event urges us to envision a future where pollinators not only survive but thrive. These essential creatures, including bees, butterflies, moths, bats, beetles, and hummingbirds, are the unsung heroes behind the food we enjoy and the beauty that surrounds us. As we reflect on the interconnectedness of our world, let's unite in a collective effort to protect and preserve these crucial pollinators. By understanding the impact of our actions on their habitats and embracing sustainable practices, we can pave the way for a flourishing future..."
The bee and the butterfly would agree--if they could agree.
![A Gulf Fritillary and a honey bee sharing the same lavender blossom in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A Gulf Fritillary and a honey bee sharing the same lavender blossom in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107473.jpg)
- Author: Denise Godbout-Avant
As the long, hot days of summer slide into cooler, shorter days of autumn, seasonal changes are occurring in my garden. Not as many plants are blooming, the leaves on deciduous trees and plants are becoming drier and starting to change color. Some plants are producing autumn berries that will sustain many birds as insects, another source of food, begin to disappear.
Quite a few butterflies have been showing up in my garden to take advantage of flowers that are still blooming. Butterflies I have been seeing include painted ladies (Vanessa cardui), common buckeyes (Junonia coenia), fiery skippers (Hylephila phyleus)and cabbage whites (Pieris rapae).
With the advent of winter, butterflies disappear since they cannot tolerate temperatures below 55°F or rainy weather. So, what happens to butterflies in the winter???
Some Butterflies Migrate
Some butterfly adults migrate south, overwintering in warmer climates.
Monarch butterflies are known for their astonishingly long spring and fall migrations. Both the eastern monarchs and western monarchs began their southern migrations in late August or early September from southern Canada/northern USA to their overwintering sites. The eastern variety generally heads to the oyamel fir forests in the mountains of central Mexico, whereas the western Pacific species have a shorter journey to California's coastline. You may see some western monarchs this fall resting or feeding on flowers in your garden as they fly through the Central Valley on their way their overwintering sites in coastal areas such as Santa Cruz, Pacific Grove, Pismo Beach, and San Diego.
Other Winter Strategies
Most butterflies spend winter in the same area they spent summer.
Some lay their eggs in autumn on, or close to, their specific host plants with the eggs hatching the following spring. The common hairstreak (Satyrium californica) eggs are laid attached to twigs of oaks with the caterpillars feeding on newly emerged spring leaves.
Some butterflies weather the cold as pupa within a chrysalis in a sheltered spot. During this time, the pupa will enter diapause (where development stops). An antifreeze chemical in their blood allows them to survive cold temperatures. Once the days lengthen, it will resume its transformation, emerging as an adult just as in time for blooming flowers that provide nectar. The tiger swallowtail's chrysalis (Papilio rutulus) will take refuge in deep shrubbery. The anise swallowtails (Papilio zelicaon) and cabbage whites also generally overwinter as a pupa in their chrysalis. Fiery skippers usually overwinter as pupae buried in leaves, but some adults will migrate to southern California.
Mourning cloaks (Nymphalis antiopa)go into dormancy as an adult. Their blood also contains an anti-freeze. They tuck themselves into cracks and crevices of rocks and trees.
Leaving the Leaves
- Learn which butterflies live in your area and grow native plants for those specific species.
- Offer nectar plants in the fall and spring months for butterflies that are migrating, emerging from overwintering, or getting ready to go into winter dormancy/hibernation.
- Skip raking the leaves in your garden in autumn and leave standing plants alone until midspring, so overwintering butterfly larvae, pupae and adults have a place to hide. If leaving the leaves on your lawn is too messy for you, consider not disturbing the leaves in your planters.
- If you find what looks like a dead chrysalis (many resemble dead leaves) in your yard, garage, shed, do not disturb it. A butterfly may well emerge in the spring.
- Avoid using pesticides as much as possible.
Resources
- Art Shapiro's Butterfly Site: https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/butterflies
- Butterflies in Your Garden, Publication from UCCE Stanislaus County :https://ucanr.edu/sites/CEStanislausCo/files/345791.pdf
- Xerces Society - Pollinator Plants: Central Valley of California: https://xerces.org/publications/plant-lists/ppbi-california-central-valley
- California Native Plant Society: https://www.cnps.org/
- UC Davis Arboretum – Larval Hosts for Butterflies: https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/blog/larval-host-plants-butterflies
Denise Godbout-Avant has been a UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Stanislaus County since 2020.
/h3>/h3>/h3>/h3>Date: Saturday, October 15, 2022
Time: 9:00 am – 10:30 am
Where: Stanislaus Agricultural Center, 3800 Cornucopia Way, Harvest Hall Rooms D&E.
Register: http://ucanr.edu/monarchs/2022
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
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.
It's quite common in the area, says Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, who has monitored butterfly populations of central California for 50 years.
He writes on his website, Art's Butterfly World:
"A common species of oak woodlands. Glides back and forth along streambeds and roads; males perch on branches and foliage, frequently in oak. Both sexes visit mud puddles. (This is unusual; in most butterflies only males "puddle.") The female is larger than the male, with broader wings and a less pointed forewing apex. There is no variation in color and pattern. This butterfly has been shown to be mildly distasteful to birds and to be mimicked by the more edible Lorquin's Admiral in California. The genus Adelpha is of New World Tropical origin. Although our Sister is usually classified as conspecific (belonging to the same species) with the desert Southwest form, subspecies eulalia, we suspect the two are good biological species."
"Two to three broods, flying March or April to November at lower elevations. Most abundant in the foothills (Sierra and Coast Range/Bay Area) and lower montane zone. Uncommon or rare, and irregular, on the floor of the Central Valley, but occasionally seen in cities and suburbs. Females are highly dispersive and are most likely to be seen in unusual places. The species is not a permanent resident in our area above 5000' but is seen regularly up to 7000' or higher in late spring-early summer and again in autumn."
"Host plants oaks, especially Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia, wislizenii and chrysolepis). Adults visit flowers (California Buckeye, Yerba Santa, Dogbane, Giant Hyssop, Goldenrod, Coyotebrush) but also dung, carrion, flowing sap, damaged fruit, etc.--a very tropical lifestyle."
Sisterhood!
![bugsquad3584 copy bugsquad3584 copy](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/92868.jpg)