Master Gardeners of Ventura County
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Master Gardeners of Ventura County

Posts Tagged: Asclepias speciosa

A Good News Day: Monarchs on the UC Davis Campus

Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, has been looking for monarchs all year long on the UC Davis campus--as have scores of others. On Friday, Aug. 26, he met with success. He spotted four within half an...

A monarch butterfly nectaring on a showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in Vacaville, California in June, 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch butterfly nectaring on a showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in Vacaville, California in June, 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch butterfly nectaring on a showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in Vacaville, California in June, 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum of Entomology associate Greg Karoefelas took this image of a monarch in his backyard in Davis on May 6, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Greg Kareofelas)
Bohart Museum of Entomology associate Greg Karoefelas took this image of a monarch in his backyard in Davis on May 6, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Greg Kareofelas)

Bohart Museum of Entomology associate Greg Karoefelas took this image of a monarch in his backyard in Davis on May 6, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Greg Kareofelas)

Posted on Thursday, September 1, 2022 at 4:02 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

Milkweed's New Buddy: It's Not a Monarch

Our showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) is putting on a show. The towering plant--a good eight feet--anchors the garden as we patiently wait for monarch butterflies to arrive and lay their eggs.  It's mid-August and it...

A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, hanging out on a milkweed in Vacaville, Calif. after molting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, hanging out on a milkweed in Vacaville, Calif. after molting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, hanging out on a milkweed in Vacaville, Calif. after molting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The exoskeleton that the praying mantis just shed is lying on a milkweed leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The exoskeleton that the praying mantis just shed is lying on a milkweed leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The exoskeleton that the praying mantis just shed is lying on a milkweed leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Thursday, August 19, 2021 at 7:22 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

A Memo to a Mantis

Dear Ms. Mantis, We see you. You're trying to camouflage yourself, but we see you.  You're hanging out on a showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, trying to catch a butterfly or a bee.  So, will you try to nab a monarch? A Mama Monarch that's...

Find the praying mantis! It's on the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Find the praying mantis! It's on the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Find the praying mantis! It's on the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis lurking beneath a leaf of the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in a Vacaville, Calif. garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A praying mantis lurking beneath a leaf of the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in a Vacaville, Calif. garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis lurking beneath a leaf of the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in a Vacaville, Calif. garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yes, monarchs are on the menu of the praying mantis. They polish of everything but the wings. This archived image is from Sept. 29, 2015. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Yes, monarchs are on the menu of the praying mantis. They polish of everything but the wings. This archived image is from Sept. 29, 2015. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yes, monarchs are on the menu of the praying mantis. They polish of everything but the wings. This archived image is from Sept. 29, 2015. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Friday, August 13, 2021 at 8:00 AM
Tags: Art Shapiro (297), Asclepias speciosa (13), monarch (25), praying mantis (148), showy milkweed (7), UC Davis (325)
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

Which One Is Not Like the Other?

So here are all these milkweed bugs clustered on a showy milkweed leaf, Asclepias speciosa. It's early morning and the red bugs are a real eye opener. They're seed eaters, but as Hugh Dingle, emeritus professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of...

bugsquadnewDSC 0074 copy
bugsquadnewDSC 0074 copy

Posted on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 7:08 PM
Tags: aphids (52), Asclepias speciosa (13), Hugh Dingle (23), lady beetle (27), ladybug (28), mlkweed bugs (1), red (3)
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Environment, Natural Resources, Pest Management, Yard & Garden

Orange You Glad It's Almost Halloween?

You can't get any more Halloween than a bold (daring) jumping spider with orange spots! This common North American spider was hanging out yesterday on our showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, trying to look like a spectator instead of a predator....

Orange you glad it's almost Halloween? A juvenile bold jumping spider, Phidippus audax, hangs out on a showy milkweed.  (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Orange you glad it's almost Halloween? A juvenile bold jumping spider, Phidippus audax, hangs out on a showy milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Orange you glad it's almost Halloween? A juvenile bold jumping spider, Phidippus audax, hangs out on a showy milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A predator, a bold or daring jumping spider, crawls around on a showy milkweed. Note its iridescent chelicerae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A predator, a bold or daring jumping spider, crawls around on a showy milkweed. Note its iridescent chelicerae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A predator, a bold or daring jumping spider, crawls around on a showy milkweed. Note its iridescent chelicerae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

My safe place! The bold or daring jumping spider peers out at its surroundings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
My safe place! The bold or daring jumping spider peers out at its surroundings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

My safe place! The bold or daring jumping spider peers out at its surroundings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Monday, October 23, 2017 at 4:50 PM

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