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LinkedInPosts Tagged: green bottle fly
On the Fly
Flies seem to be in the news a lot lately. But have you ever looking closely at a common green bottle fly Lucilia sericata, also known as a blowfly? Ever admired their brilliant metallic blue-green coloration? Ever thought about them as pollinators (they are sometimes!) but of course, that's...
A common green bottle fly, Lucilia sericata, seeking nectar on a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The green bottle fly sips some nectar from a tropical milkweed blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Flies can be pollinators, too, but they're better known for their forensic, veterinary and medical importance. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a green bottle fly sipping nectar from a tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's for Dinner? Drama on a Sunflower Blossom
What's for dinner? If you're a praying mantis nymph, Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a sunflower, sometimes it can be a long wait. Breakfast fades into lunch, lunch fades into dinner... First you scout out your territory and spread out (hey, look at me)!. Then you lurk in the shadows...
A praying mantis nymph, Stagmomantis limbata, spreads out across a sunflower blossom in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gotcha! The praying mantis nymph, Stagmomantis limbata, snags what appears to be a green bottle fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis nymph, Stagmomantis limbata, finishing dinner. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's for Dinner? How About a Green Bottle Fly?
What's for dinner? A crab spider, camouflaged in our lavender patch, didn't catch a honey bee, a butterfly, an ant or a syrphid fly. No, it nailed a green bottle fly. We couldn't help but notice. The fly's metallic blue-green coloring stood in sharp contrast to the white spider. One venomous...
A crab spider dines on a green bottle fly in a lavender patch in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The crab spider is camouflaged, but its prey, a green bottle fly with its familiar metallic blue-green coloring, isn't. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
As Green as a...Well...Green Bottle Fly
Strange thing, nobody ever says "as green as a green bottle fly." 'Cept maybe an entomologist. You've heard: As green as an emerald As green as a lizard As green as a gourd As green as grass As green as bottled glass As green as it gets But as "green as a bottle fly" (or blow fly in...
A green bottle fly nectaring on Lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eye to eye with a green bottle fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Newly Emerged Green Bottle Fly
Flies are pollinators, too. It's appropriate during National Pollinator Week to remember that. We spotted this newly emerged green bottle fly (below) nectaring on lavender last week in our yard. It seemed out of place among the honey bees, leafcutter bees and carpenter bees working the...
Newly emerged green bottle fly nectaring on lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
