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LinkedInPosts Tagged: Barbara Ertter
Just Being Totally Territorial
What was that! If you grow Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia) in your pollinator garden, you've probably noticed the fast-flying longhorned male bees being totally territorial. Their job is to target whatever's on the Tithonia. It doesn't matter if it's a bumble bee, a honey bee, or a butterfly--it's...
A male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, targets the back of a painted lady, Vanessa cardui, on a Mexican sunflower in a Vacaville pollinator garden. This is typical territorial behavior. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Heads up! A male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, heads straight for the painted lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch butterfly is interrupted by a male longhorned bee engaging in territorial behavior. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Bumble Bee on Mustard in the Golden State
What's better than a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) on yellow mustard? Not much. Both are signs of early spring. Mustard is popping up all over, along with oxalyis and wild radish. The earth is warming. Spring is here. Get ready. In the University of California book, California...
A pollen-laded yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, buzzes toward a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Coming in for a landing! A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, lands on a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It doesn't get any better than this. Yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) lands on a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Here Come the Carpenter Bees!
It's spring and it's loud in the Spanish lavender patch. The girls--the honey bees--are buzzing furiously as they forage among the blossoms, but so are the boys, in this case the mountain carpenter bee, Xyclocopa tabaniformis orpifex. The girls are there for the pollen and nectar to take back to...
A male mountain carpenter bee, Xyclocopa tabaniformis orpifex, nectaring on Spanish lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male mountain carpenter bee, Xyclocopa tabaniformis orpifex, peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Side view of the male mountain carpenter bee, Xyclocopa tabaniformis orpifex, nectaring on Spanish lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's That Bee? How to Identify and Attract Native Bees to Your Garden
Have you ever seen a bee buzzing around your garden and wondered: "What's that bee?" Or have you ever seen a bee nectaring in a community garden and wondered "How can I attract THAT bee to my yard?" Just like all floral visitors are not bees, not all bees are honey bees. However, the honey bee,...
A female ultra green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, on Coreopsis tinctora 'Mahogany.' (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta) "the teddy bear bee" on germander. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A digger bee, a male Anthophora urbana, on lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Where the Bees Are
Take a photo of a bee--any bee--and then look it up in the newly published California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (Heyday). Last summer we spent many hours capturing images of male long-horned bees, Melissodes aegils, sleeping in clusters on the stems of our guara at...
A long-horned male bee, Melissodes robustior, on the leaf of a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
