Facebook
X (Twitter)
Reddit
Pinterest
Tumblr
Delicious
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
Posts Tagged: Amy Toth
Wasp Love: Pollinators, Artists and Biocontrol Experts
What a delight to see that European paper wasp nest tucked beneath the overhang of a fence in a Vacaville, Calif. neighborhood. My first thought was "Wow! Haven't seen a Polistes dominula nest for years!" (The last one I saw was...
An European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) nest in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A European paper wasp, Polistes dominula, peers between the petals of a yellow rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Do You Know Where Your Pollinators Are?
It's National Pollinator Week. Do you know where your pollinators are? If you're thinking bees, butterflies, beetles, birds (hummingbirds) and bats, you're correct. But what about European paper wasps (Polistes dominula)? They're pollinators, too, says...
European paper wasps protecting the nest they're building on the lip of a recycling bin near the Mann lab, UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
European paper wasp chowing down on food on the lip of a recycling bin near the Mann lab, UC Davis campus. Another wasp delivered it to the guard. Maybe it's the remains of a caterpillar? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
These European Paper Wasps Didn't Get the Memo
They didn't get the memo. A sign on a recycling bin near the Mann Laboratory at the University of California, Davis, clearly reads "Bottles and Cans Only." It says nothing about wasps. But there they were: European paper wasps (Polistes dominula)...
A sign on a UC Davis recycling bin clearly says "Bottles and Cans Only." It says nothing about wasps. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the European paper wasps building their nest beneath the overhanging lid of a recycling bin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
European paper wasps even built a nest in a donation box in the Reiman Gardens, Iowa State University. "These ladies had expensive taste," quipped associate professor Amy Toth, who reseachers European paper wasps. (Photo by Amy Merritt, Reiman Gardens)
Getting Steak and Dessert at the Same Time
Monarch butterflies aren't the only insects that hang around milkweed, their host plant. You're likely to see a variety of predators, such as the European paper wasp, Polistes dominula. This paper wasp is a little skittish around paparazzi so it helps...
A European paper wasp catching prey on a showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A European wasp feeding on prey on a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eye to eye, and nose to antennae with a European paper wasp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of European paper wasp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why Influx of Caterpillars Linked to Hawks
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."--John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra Muir said it well. Muir (1938-1914), the naturalist and conservationist known as "The Father of Our National...
Three's company! Three juvenile Cooper's hawks, as identified by Andrew Engilis, Jr. curator of the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology,cooling off in an urban birdbath in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary gets ready to lay an egg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary caterpillars defoliating the passionflower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
