- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Where are all the monarchs? Not in our pollinator garden here in Vacaville.
Milkweed? Check.
Floral resources? Check.
Praying mantids? No. (Haven't seen any, but they're out there!)
Birds? Yes. (Nesting California scrub jays eat their fill of caterpillars, mainly Gulf Fritillary 'cats.)
Shade? Yes. (Crepe myrtles and cherry laurels await.)
Monarchs? No. (Danaus plexippus, where are you?)
On previous Fourths of July, monarchs fluttered, nectared, and eclosed in our pollinator garden.
Today, July 4, 2023, we celebrate our nation's birthday, and yes, it's "Hurrah for the Red, White and Blue!"
However, we are s-o looking forward to "Hurray for the Black and Orange!"
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So here's this crab spider stalking a katydid nymph foraging on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola.
Dinner awaits!
Suddenly a native bee, Melissodes agilis, lands next to the katydid and begins to sip some nectar.
Decisions, decisions! Do I want a juice katydid nymph or a tasty long-horned bee? Do I have a choice in the matter or does it matter if I have a choice?
A moment in time. Time in a moment. The bee, unaware of danger, continues to forage. Then, abruptly, the bee takes flight.
One menu choice remains.
It was a good day for the crab spider.
It was not a good day for the katydid.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's "Friday Fly Day," but no flies today.
They're in a "no-fly zone."
That's because of the freezing temperatures. Jack Frost is nipping at assorted noses, leaves are dropping like flies, and cups are overflowing with hot chocolate.
Meanwhile, here's an image BEFORE the freeze. A honey bee is nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotunidfola, while a fly seeks a share.
The honey bee? Apis mellifera. The fly? "Sarcophagid flesh fly and the genus I do know but it is probably a Miltogramminae, a satellite fly," said forensic entomologist Robert "Bob" Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. "They are mostly parasites."
Happy No-Fly Day!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Seen any monarchs lately?
A beautiful male glided into our Vacaville garden late yesterday and made himself at home on our Mexican sunflowers, Tithonia rotundifola.
He claimed the patch--"mine, all mine, all mine!"--until a honey bee buzzed by looking for nectar. When the bee edged too close for his comfort, Mr. Monarch relinquished his blossom and simply fluttered to another one.
Backlit against the setting sun, the monarch's iconic colors gleamed. It was a magical moment.
Mr. Monarch is on his way to an overwintering site, perhaps Pacific Grove. KSBW, a Salinas television station, announced that the first weekend count at the Monarch Sanctuary in Pacific Grove revealed that the monarchs are returning in "large numbers."
Large numbers? The tally on Friday, Oct. 21 totaled 3,823. "In 2021, only one butterfly was seen," the news story related. "In 2021, only one butterfly was seen. In 2020, zero butterflies entered the sanctuary during their entire annual migration. At the beginning of the year, the Xerces Society reported that 247,237 monarch butterflies were observed across the West which amounts to more than a 100-fold increase from 2020 which saw fewer than 2,000 monarchs."
Entomologist David James of Washington State University, who studies migratory monarchs (citizen scientists in the Pacific Northwest tag them) reported Oct. 15 on his Facebook page, "Monarch Butterflies in the Pacific Northwest," that "We now have our fifth long distance tagged Monarch recovery! Remarkably this one came from the same release as the previous one! So, two recoveries from a group of Monarchs reared and released by Gillian Gifford Short on September 28 in Ruch, Oregon. The first recovery (G6797) was found in Trinidad, CA about 100 miles SW from Ruch. The latest recovery (G6800) was found yesterday, October 14 in San Rafael, CA by Kelly...This individual did not fly coastward, instead flying almost due south for 295 miles. Still not done migrating, it likely has another 100 or so miles to go before it reaches a coastal overwintering site."
Safe journeys!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
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.