Posts Tagged: garden
Zinnia Nectar: Flight Fuel for the Migratory Monarchs
Zinnias are a great nectar source for migratory monarch butterflies as they wing their way to their overwintering spots along coastal California. How much do monarchs love zinnias? So much that sometimes a monarch will touch down on a zinnia right next to you. That's what...
A migratory monarch butterfly nectaring on a pink zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A migratory monarch sipping her fill of nectar from a zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Yes, Hawks Eat Insects
Ever watched a red-shouldered hawk on a hunt? They eat a variety of prey, including small mammals, birds, snakes, lizards, fish, crayfish, insects and worms, according to the California Raptor Center (CRC), a research center that's part of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. The...
Red-shouldered hawk devouring what appears to be a praying mantis. It caught the insect in the Vacaville Museum and then perched on a telephone line to eat it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Diane Ullman of the Department of Entomology and Nematology and Gale Okumura, Department of Design faculty emerita, in front of "A Bird's Eye View." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's Friday Fly Day!
It's Friday Fly Day, and time to post an image of a fly that masquerades as a bee. That would be "the bee fly," a fly so named because it resembles a beeOrder: Diptera. Family: Bombyliidae. In its adult stage, it's a pollinator that feeds on nectar and pollen. In its larval stage,...
A bee fly, family Bombyliidae, foraging on sedum in a UC Davis garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Celebrating the Crab Spider in Arachtober
It's Arachtober and that means celebrating arachnids for the entire month of October. Well, we ought to celebrate them year around, but October is THEIR month. Let's especially applaud crab spiders when they prey on such agricultural pests as the lygus bug, also known as the "western...
A crab spider eating a lygus bug, an agricultural pest in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Zeroing in on Honey Bees
The next seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology promises to be of great interest to bee scientists, beekeepers, and all those who want to learn more about honey bees. An international leader in honey bee research--Juliana Rangel Posada--will speak on "Don't...
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