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LinkedInPosts Tagged: syprhid
The Year 2017: 'Survival of the Flittest'
How would you describe the year 2017? Survival of the fittest? In the insect world, it's more like "survival of the flittest." If you've ever pulled up a chair in a pollinator garden and sat back and observed all the activity, sometimes it's like road rage on the freeway and aisle anger in the...
Have you ever seen a male long-horned bee (Melissodes agilis) doing a protective fly-by, trying to save a food source for the female of his species? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Have you ever seen a male long-horned bee (Melissodes agilis) challenging a Western tiger swallowtail seeking nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia)?(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Have you ever seen a Melissodes agilis targeting a Western tiger swallowtail? A tiger by the tail? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Have you ever seen a syrphid fly targeting a honeydew-laden lady beetle, aka ladybug, on a rose? This is an Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) and a syrphid fly, a Scaeva pyrastri, according to Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Have you ever seen a honey bee and bumble bee racing for the nectar on catmint (Nepeta)? The bumble bee is a Bombus melanopygus.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Do 'Cats Eat Other 'Cats? Do Larva Eat Other Larva?
It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. It's also a 'cat-eat-'cat world, that is, when a caterpillar eats another caterpillar. Or in this case, when larva eats larva. We recently spotted this lady beetle larva eating a syrphid fly larva on our yellow rose bush, "Sparkle and Shine." Both eat aphids,...
A lady beetle larva attacking and eating a syrphid fly larva. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The lady beetle larva (first photo) grew to an adult like this one. This is an Asian lady beetle. Regarding cannibalism, monarch caterpillars can and do eat one another. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Jupiter's Beard Makes the Cut
Clean-shaven it's not. Yet it's a cut above. For bees, syrphids and butterflies, the long-blooming Jupiter's Beard make the cut. Centranthus ruber, also known as Jupiter's Beard, Red Valerian, Kiss-Me-Quick, and Keys to Heaven, is a popular drought-tolerant plant that attracts insects like a...
A honey bee foraging on Jupiter's Beard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee sipping nectar from Jupiter's Beard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A syrphid, also known as a hover fly or flower fly, hovering over Jupiter's Beard. Flies are pollinators, too! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A syrphid, aka hover fly or flower fly, sipping nectar from Jupiter's Beard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Bee Is a Bee Is a Bee,,,
If poet Gertrude Stein were alive today, she might say "A bee is a bee is a bee" instead of "a rose is a rose is a rose." Or, she might say "A fly is a fly is a fly." Oh, my. That's because major corporations, news media and people-who-should-know-or-who-should-at-least-fact-check are still...
A drone fly, Eristalis tenax, heading toward a Cosmos. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, heading toward a rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Matadors in the Champagne Bubbles
It's cool how honey bees and syrphid flies gravitate toward the Iceland Poppy. It's a winter plant, and frankly, there isn't much to eat out there. The Iceland Poppy (Papaver nudicaule), a bowl-shaped, papery flower, fills the bill. The name is a misnomer. It's not native to Iceland. It's from...
A syrphid fly, aka hover fly or flower fly, on an Iceland Poppy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A green bottle fly soaking up sunshine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee gathering pollen. In the foreground: a freeloader fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Two syrphids sharing an Iceland Poppy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
