Posts Tagged: garden
Battle Between a Butterfly and a Bee
So, here you are, a newly eclosed Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, eager to sip some nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. It's a warm, windless day, and you're anxious to score, score,...
A Western tiger swallowtail, aware that a territorial bee is about to attack, raises its tails to ward off the intruder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Western tiger swallowtail begins to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Western tiger swallowtail leaps off as the bee draws closer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Western tiger swallowtail escapes a hit by the longhorned bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
On Sept. 6, 2016, It Happened
On Sept. 6, 2016, it happened. A monarch fluttered into our pollinator garden in Vacaville and touched down on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. It wasn't just "any ol' monarch"--if there's ever such a thing as "any ol'...
This monarch, tagged and released in Ashland, Ore., on Aug. 28, 2016, touched down in a Vacaville garden on Sept. 6, 2016. It flew 285 miles in 7 days or about 40.7 miles per day, according to WSU entomologist David James. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Tiger and a Tithonia
When a tiger meets a Tithonia, or a Tithonia meets a tiger, Nature bursts forth in all its glory. Such was the case when we spotted a Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, foraging for nectar on a Mexican sunflower,...
A Western tiger swallowtail lands on a Mexican sunflower and begins to nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Western tiger swallowtail decides that "leaving" is good. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The "tiger" begins to make a quick exit. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tail up, and off it goes, the Western tiger swallowtail caught in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Frit and Tithonia: Showstoppers
The Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, and the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, seem made for one another. Both are a showy orange. Both are show-stoppers. And both attract a photographer's eye. Especially when a Gulf Frit flutters...
A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, fluttering over a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Bee and the Mantis
So here's this praying mantis, a female Mantis religiosa, tucked beneath a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. She's as still as a stone, and you know how still stones are. Along comes a honey bee,...
A honey bee forages on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, as a female praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, perches below. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)