Posts Tagged: California Insects

Ode to an Earwig

A winter pollinator garden does not buzz with bees; it crawls with earwigs, ants, roly-polys, and other insects.   Turn over a rock, a pot, or a garden sculpture and there they are. Well, there one was. An earwig looked up as we lifted a...

This earwig was beneath a garden sculpture in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This earwig was beneath a garden sculpture in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Take a Bug Break--and Bring Along This Book

Don't take a coffee break. Take a bug break. Step into your garden, walk over to a community park, or hike in the wilderness and see what's out there. And take along the newly published, newly revised "The Field Guide to California Insects." It...

A monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, looking for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, looking for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Booklice, Liposcelis bostrychophila, are nearly microscopic (about a millimeter long). You may find them in your cornmeal. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Booklice, Liposcelis bostrychophila, are nearly microscopic (about a millimeter long). You may find them in your cornmeal. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, perches on a stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, perches on a stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is the male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa sonorina (formerly known as Xylocopa varipuncta). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is the male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa sonorina (formerly known as Xylocopa varipuncta). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Read more