Posts Tagged: Robert Bugg

Hovering in the Wind

The 40 mile-per-hour howling wind didn't seem to bother the syrphid fly, aka hover fly and flower fly.     It clung to a blossom on the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, and proceeded to nectar. Its wings sparkled in the morning sun. This...

Syrphid fly nectaring on tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Syrphid fly nectaring on tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Syrphid sparkles in the early morning sun. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Syrphid sparkles in the early morning sun. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Syrphids Back Again

Have you seen the little syrphid flies, aka flower flies and hover flies, hovering around the early spring blossoms? We saw half a dozen of them Monday, Feb. 15 nectaring a white ceanothus at the Marshall Post Office in Marin County. The ceanothus is a...

Honing In

A SYRPHID FLY (problably from the Genus Toxomerus) heads toward a white ceanothus blossom near Tomales Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Glitter

WINGS GLITTERING in the sun, a syrphid fly lands on a white ceanothus blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Just Hovering

It's often mistaken for a honey bee. It's not a honey bee. It's a hover fly or flower fly. And this one, hovering around the plants last Saturday in the Storer Gardens at the University of California, Davis, looked like a Syrphus opinator to me. So I...

Hover Fly

A hover fly or flower fly, Syrphus opinator, rests on a stem in the Storer Gardens, UC Davis. You'll be seeing more of these hover flies as the weather warms. This photo was taken Saturday, Jan. 24. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Head of Hover Fly

HEAD OF HOVER FLY--This close-up photo shows the head of the hover fly, Syrphus opinator. The insect is often mistaken for a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Let Us Prey

Robert Bugg saw it first. That's entomologist Robert L. Bugg. Bugg, who received his doctorate in entomology at UC Davis, does research on the biological control of insect pests; cover crops; and restoration ecology. And he saw it...

A praying mantis snares a pipevine swallowtail butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It was the last flutter for this pipevine swallowtail butterfly after a praying mantis snared it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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