Posts Tagged: Melissodes agilis. Tithonia

The Bee and the Tiger

Talk about a butterfly ballet... A large Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, with a wingspan of about four inches, flutters into the Vacaville, Calif. pollinator garden and lands on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). It proceeds to nectar, unaware...

A male longhorn bee, probably a Melisoddes agilis, targets a Western tiger swallowtail nectaring on Tithonia in Vacavile, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male longhorn bee, probably a Melisoddes agilis, targets a Western tiger swallowtail nectaring on Tithonia in Vacavile, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Butterfly ballet--The startled Western tiger swallowtail takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Butterfly ballet--The startled Western tiger swallowtail takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Western tiger swallowtail, interrupted by a male territorial longhorn bee, decides the Mexican sunflower is not "big enough for both of us." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Western tiger swallowtail, interrupted by a male territorial longhorn bee, decides the Mexican sunflower is not "big enough for both of us." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Persistent Western tiger swallowtail selects another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Persistent Western tiger swallowtail selects another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's Mine; Not Yours!

So here's this hungry male monarch butterfly sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia "Torch"). He's sipping, sipping, sipping. He's minding his own business. He's tending to his own needs. It's a good day in the pollinator...

A male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis (as identified by Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology) targets a male monarch on a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis (as identified by Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology) targets a male monarch on a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

I'm coming at you! The male Melissodes agilis returns to claim his territory. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

I'm coming at you! The male Melissodes agilis returns to claim his territory. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, does a barrel roll and attempts again to push the monarch off the Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, does a barrel roll and attempts again to push the monarch off the Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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