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Posts Tagged: zinnia
Lawn-pocalypse! Surviving Drought
Ah, summer! The season of sunburns, pool parties, and… lawn droughts. If your once lush, green carpet now looks like a crunchy brown doormat, you're not alone. Let's dive into why your yard is staging a dramatic death scene and what you can do to...
Bermuda grass and weeds overtaking drought stressed turf grass.
Praying Mantis: Hey, Take My Picture!
The scenario: a male praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, is perched on a pink zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden filled with bees and butterflies. Praying Mantis: "Hey, photographer, take my picture! And, can you make me look...
A praying mantis pretends to be a bodybuilder like Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"How's this for an action-figure pose?" the praying mantis asks. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis catches a bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Sorry," says the mantis. "I was hungry. I'll see myself out now." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bee Flies: Pollinators with a Bad Reputation
The late Argentine-born biologist Beatriz Moisset (1934-2022) of Willow Grove, Pa., called the insect "A Pollinator with a Bad Reputation." Moisset, who received her doctorate from the University of Cordoba, Argentina, and authored the...
A bee fly, family Bombyliidae, heads for a yellow zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The bee fly hovers over a yellow zinina. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The bee fly sips nectar from the zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The bee fly takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Oops! Wrong Species, Wrong Gender
So here's this male monarch nectaring on a pink zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden. The nectar is rich and he is as hungry as a migrant butterfly seeking flight fuel for the long journey ahead. A painted...
A painted lady, Vanessa cardui, touches down next to a male monarch, Danaus plexippus, on a pink zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The male monarch lets the painted lady know that his advances are unwelcome. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Okay, I'm leaving" The painted lady takes off as the monarch also prepares to leave. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"I'm leaving, too!" The male monarch takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Bee-Butterfly Battle Over a Zinnia
An Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon, settles on a red zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden and begins sipping the nectar. A honey bee buzzes by. Was she just passing through or did she want the same nectar? The bee brushes the...
An Anise Swallowtail, sipping nectar from a red zinnia, seems unaware of a buzzing honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Anise Swallowtail: "What great nectar!" Bee: "I want some, too!" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Anise Swallowtail: "This nectar is great." Bee: "Are you sharing or moving or what?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's touch and go! The honey bee, Apis mellifera, touches and the Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon, goes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
