Posts Tagged: tidy tips

Painted Ladies: What a Delight to See!

In between the rains today, we saw them. So beautiful!  Painted ladies, Vanessa cardui, nectaring in patches of colorful wildflowers in the Biological Orchard and Gardens (BOG), located behind the Mann Laboratory on University of California, Davis campus. The migratory butterflies,...

A painted lady, Vanessa cardui, nectars on five-spot, Nemophilia maculate, Wednesday afternoon, in the Biological Orchard and Gardens (BOG), UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A painted lady, Vanessa cardui, nectars on five-spot, Nemophilia maculate, Wednesday afternoon, in the Biological Orchard and Gardens (BOG), UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tidy tips, Layia platyglossa, in the UC Davis Biological Orchard and Gardens (BOG) drew painted ladies, Vanessa cardui, on Wednesday afternoon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tidy tips, Layia platyglossa, in the UC Davis Biological Orchard and Gardens (BOG) drew painted ladies, Vanessa cardui, on Wednesday afternoon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A sign welcomes visitors to the UC Davis Biological Orchard and Gardens (BOG). It is located behind Lot 26, behind the Mann Laboratory, off Kleiber Hall Drive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A sign welcomes visitors to the UC Davis Biological Orchard and Gardens (BOG). It is located behind Lot 26, behind the Mann Laboratory, off Kleiber Hall Drive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Assassins in the Tidy Tips

If you see a patch of California native wildflowers known as "Tidy Tips,"  look closely. The yellow daisylike flower with white petals (Layia platyglossa) may yield a surprise visitor. You may see an assassin. An assassin bug. A member of the family Reduviidae, this is a long-legged, beady-eyed...

Patch of Tidy Tips

PATCH OF TIDY TIPS, California native wildflower, planted on the UC Davis campus, behind the Laboratory Sciences Building. If you look closely in the patch, you'll see scores of insects, including honey bees, hover flies, mason bees, ladybugs--and assassin bugs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Assassin Bug

ASSASSIN BUG, from the genus Zelus and family Reduviidae, waits for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sip of Nectar

ASSASSIN BUG appears to be sipping nectar from a tidy tip blossom for a quick burst of energy. It preys on small insects, such as aphids, crickets and leafhoppers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sun Break: Here Come the Bees

The Tidy Tips are a'blooming and the bees are a'buzzing. The Tidy Tips, a native California wildflower (Layia platyglossa, family Asteraceae) is a welcome addition to flower beds. If you walk behind the Sciences Laboratory Building on the University of California, Davis, campus, patches of Tidy...

Honey Bee on Tidy Tips

HONEY BEE nectaring on Tidy Tips, a native California wildflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up

SUN BREAK--no cold, no wind, no rain--means it's time for the honey bees to hit the Tidy Tips on the UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tiptoeing Through the Tidy Tips

 It's not spring until you see honey bees, carpenter bees and butterflies on Tidy Tips. That would be Layia platyglossa, a wildflower native to southern California. Its common name is "Tidy Tips" or "Coastal Tidy Tips." It's a daisylike flower with yellow petals tipped in white, thus the...

HONEY BEE visits Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa) a native California wildflower. This photo was taken April 2 on the UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

CARPENTER BEE visits Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa) on the UC Davis campus. The insect is so heavy it pulled down the flower stem. The blue flower at right is Desert Blue Bells (Phacelia campanularia).(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui) visits Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa) on the UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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