Bug Squad
Well, Hello There!
At first they appeared on our pomegranate tree, our 85-year-old pomegranate tree. Then they migrated over to our passion flower vine, Passiflora, where we're trying to rear Gulf Fritillary butterflies (Agraulis vanillae). They're leaffooted bug...
Leaffooted bug nymphs, Leptoglossus clypealis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Leaffooted bug nymphs, Leptoglossus clypealis. crowd a leaf of a passion flower vine. Note the yellow Gulf Fritillary eggs on the leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar. These leaffooted bug nymphs are sharing leaves of the Passiflora with Gulf Fritillary caterpillars. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
No Preying When You're Sprayed
One thing's for certain--a praying mantis does not like to get wet. If it were human, it would not dip a toe in the water and yell to its friends: "C'mon in, the water's fine!" Water is not fine--not to a praying mantis. While watering the tomato...
Praying mantis, accidentally splashed with a water, tries to remove the droplets. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Drenched praying mantis raises a foreleg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Plants, Pollinators and UC Davis
If you've never been to a UC Davis Arboretum plant sale, you should. The last plant sale of the year will take place Sunday, Oct. 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive. If you're looking for plants that will attract...
Honey bee on a cenizo, Leucophyllum frutescens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee on a white flowering quince, Chaenomeles speciosa "Contorta." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee on winter jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's That Caterpillar?
What's that caterpillar? This little fellow (or gal) was munching--quite contentedly, thank you--on the leaves of an aspen tree. The homeowner didn't take too kindly to the critter defoliating his prized tree, newly purchased in Oregon and newly...
Close-up of a Smerinthus cerisyi caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Smerinthus cerisyi caterpillar on aspen leaves. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Smerinthus cerisyi adult taken by Shawn Hanrahan at the Texas A&M University Insect Collection in College Station, Texas. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Coming Right at You
It's not often you see a monarch butterfly and a digger bee in the same photo. Such was the case on a recent visit to a lantana patch at a west Vacaville home. The monarch butterfly touched down on a blossom and was beginning to nectar when along...
Monarch butterfly nectaring lantana, while a digger bee, Anthophora urbana, heads toward it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)