UC Gardening Blogs

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...

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)

Owls Contribute to an Integrated Pest Management Program

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a science-based pest management process which focuses on...

Jackie-in-the-Box

In your childhood, somebody probably gave you a jack-in-the-box toy, a music box that you crank up,...

A female praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, pops up between the petals of a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. Surprise! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, pops up between the petals of a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. Surprise! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Halloween Surprise: A Migratory Monarch

It's beginning to look a lot like...Halloween. If you haven't noticed, stores are gearing up for...

A migrating monarch butterfly stops on Halloween, Oct. 31 to sip nectar from a milkweed in a Vacaville garden. She was on her way to an overwintering site in coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A migrating monarch butterfly stops on Halloween, Oct. 31 to sip nectar from a milkweed in a Vacaville garden. She was on her way to an overwintering site in coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The female monarch spreads her wings. She stopped in Vacaville on Halloween 2023 for some flight fuel while on her way to an overwintering site in coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The female monarch spreads her wings. She stopped in Vacaville on Halloween 2023 for some flight fuel while on her way to an overwintering site in coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Battle Between a Butterfly and a Bee

So, here you are, a newly eclosed Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, eager to sip...

A Western tiger swallowtail, aware that a territorial bee is about to attack, raises its tails to ward off the intruder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Western tiger swallowtail, aware that a territorial bee is about to attack, raises its tails to ward off the intruder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Western tiger swallowtail begins to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Western tiger swallowtail begins to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Western tiger swallowtail leaps off as the bee draws closer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Western tiger swallowtail leaps off as the bee draws closer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Western tiger swallowtail escapes a hit by the longhorned bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Western tiger swallowtail escapes a hit by the longhorned bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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