Master Gardeners of Ventura County
University of California
Master Gardeners of Ventura County

Posts Tagged: garden

Celebrating the Crab Spider in Arachtober

It's Arachtober and that means celebrating arachnids for the entire month of October. Well, we ought to celebrate them year around, but October is THEIR month. Let's especially applaud crab spiders when they prey on such agricultural pests as the...

A crab spider eating a lygus bug, an agricultural pest in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A crab spider eating a lygus bug, an agricultural pest in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A crab spider eating a lygus bug, an agricultural pest in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 5:21 PM
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Pest Management, Yard & Garden

Zeroing in on Honey Bees

The next seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology promises to be of great interest to bee scientists, beekeepers, and all those who want to learn more about honey bees. An international leader in honey bee...

bugsquadblog
bugsquadblog

Posted on Thursday, October 3, 2024 at 3:43 PM
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

Praying or Preying or Peering

Praying, preying, or peering? This female praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, selects a patch of red Lantana to watch for pollinators. Her spiked forelegs resting, her eyes always watching but her body as still as a stone, she makes an...

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, poses for a portrait in a Lantana patch in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, poses for a portrait in a Lantana patch in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, poses for a portrait in a Lantana patch in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 3:57 AM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

A Monarch Kind of Day

What we've been waiting for all season... A migratory monarch butterfly fluttered into our Vacaville garden at noon today (Tuesday, Sept. 17) and nectared on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. Then she treated us to a...

A female monarch nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotunifola, in a Vacaville garden at noon, Sept. 17, 2024. At left is a territorial male longhorned bee, probably Melissodes agilis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female monarch nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotunifola, in a Vacaville garden at noon, Sept. 17, 2024. At left is a territorial male longhorned bee, probably Melissodes agilis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female monarch nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotunifola, in a Vacaville garden at noon, Sept. 17, 2024. At left is a territorial male longhorned bee, probably Melissodes agilis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The female monarch butterfly lifts off the Tithonia. This image was taken with a Nikon D500 with a 200mm macro lens. Settings: 1/4000 of a second; f-stop, 5.6; ISO 640.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The female monarch butterfly lifts off the Tithonia. This image was taken with a Nikon D500 with a 200mm macro lens. Settings: 1/4000 of a second; f-stop, 5.6; ISO 640.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The female monarch butterfly lifts off the Tithonia. This image was taken with a Nikon D500 with a 200mm macro lens. Settings: 1/4000 of a second; f-stop, 5.6; ISO 640.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The monarch descends, ready to head to another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The monarch descends, ready to head to another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The monarch descends, ready to head to another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

She lifts up and away she goes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
She lifts up and away she goes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

She lifts up and away she goes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 8:24 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

It's Friday Fly Day: How About a Mexican Cactus Fly?

It's Friday Fly Day, when folks post images of flies.  Flies seem to the entomological equivalent of Rodney Dangerfield's "I-don't-get-no-respect" quote. So how about a black syrphid fly, a Mexican cactus...

A black syrphid fly, a Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, foraging on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A black syrphid fly, a Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, foraging on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A black syrphid fly, a Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, foraging on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Friday, September 13, 2024 at 8:00 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

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