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Posts Tagged: Lantana
Mantis vs. a Monarch
Can a praying mantis catch a monarch? Yes, it can. And yes, it does. It was Sept. 14, 2013. As I approached a Vacaville supermarket, I noticed pink lantana blooming furiously near the entrance, and then, a familiar-looking butterfly...
A monarch sips nectar from lantana near a Vacaville supermarket. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, ambushes the monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The predator clutches the monarch with its spiked forelegs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Prey Tell, Where Are All the Mantids?
Prey tell, where are all the praying mantids? Last fall, a Stagmomantis limbata deposited her egg case, or ootheca, on an clothespin on our outdoor clothesline. On April 9, the clothespin sprang to life. Hundreds of nymphs emerged,...
A beautiful gravid praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, is right at home in the lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Find the praying mantis! In the flood of red and gold lantana blossoms is a gush of green: a beautiful gravid praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A very gravid praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Well, hello there! The praying mantis eyes the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Where Are You, Gulf Fritillaries?
Where are you, Gulf Fritillaries? The Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) population seems to be diminishing this year around Solano and Yolo counties. A few here, a few there, but not in the large numbers of last year. Last summer the Gulf Frits...
A Gulf Fritillary shares a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) with a hover fly (Syrphid). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary laying an egg on the tendril of a passionflower vine (Passiflora). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up shot of a Gulf Fritillary egg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A very hungry Gulf Fritillary caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed Gulf Fritillary and its chrysalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary spreads its wings on Passiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Spotting the Cabbage White Butterfly
They're everywhere. But they're not welcome. Agriculturists who commercially grow cabbage and other cucurbits aren't fond of the cabbage white butterlfy, Pieris rapae, because its larvae are pests that ravish their crops. No welcome mat for...
A cabbage white butterlfy, Pieris rapae, heads for lantana in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The cabbage white butterfly flips. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Cabbage white butterfly returns to sip some nectar from the lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
As Green as a...Well...Green Bottle Fly
Strange thing, nobody ever says "as green as a green bottle fly." 'Cept maybe an entomologist. You've heard: As green as an emerald As green as a lizard As green as a gourd As green as grass As green as bottled glass As green as it gets But...
A green bottle fly nectaring on Lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eye to eye with a green bottle fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
