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Posts Tagged: Buddleia
Where Are You, Gulf Fritillaries?
Where are you, Gulf Fritillaries? The Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) population seems to be diminishing this year around Solano and Yolo counties. A few here, a few there, but not in the large numbers of last year. Last summer the Gulf Frits overwhelmed our passionflower vine (Passiflora),...
A Gulf Fritillary shares a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) with a hover fly (Syrphid). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary laying an egg on the tendril of a passionflower vine (Passiflora). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up shot of a Gulf Fritillary egg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A very hungry Gulf Fritillary caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed Gulf Fritillary and its chrysalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary spreads its wings on Passiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Happy Thanksgiving!
It's Thanksgiving Day, and what better day to stop and be thankful for not only family and friends, but for the beauty around us. That would include insects, including the stunning Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus). Last summer we enjoyed watching a very gravid female, with a...
A Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) nectaring on a butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This gravid female Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) can't get enough of a butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer
You've heard the expression, "On a wing and a prayer." It apparently originated during World War II. Remember the 1942 film, "The Flying Tigers," starring John Wayne as Capt. Jim Gordon? John Wayne, aka Jim Gordon, asks a Rangoon hotel clerk about a missing plane: "Any word on that flight...
A tattered monarch makes a refueling stop on a Tithonia in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Wings are shredded and scales slashed, but this male monarch still flies. Here it pauses to soak up some sunshine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A predator missed--but a miss is as good as a mile. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A migratory monarch, after sipping some flight fuel in Vacaville, Calif. takes off "on a wing and a prayer," heading for an overwintering site along the coast. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Time to Celebrate Summer and National Pollinator Week
It's the first day of summer and the beginning of National Pollinator Week. What could be better? This: Spotting a Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) sail through the pollinator garden and touch down on a butterfly bush (Buddleia). When the striking yellow and black butterfly lands...
A Western tiger swallowtail foraging on a butterfly bush, Buddleia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sometimes a Western tiger swallowtail resembles the brightly colored sails of a sailboat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ready for take-off: the Western tiger swallowtail prepares to leave a butterfly bush. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Good Day, Mourning Cloak
If you go looking for a bumble bee, you might find a butterfly. And vice versa. The UC Davis Arboretum last Saturday (Feb. 6), was just starting to "get its spring on." We spotted a few honey bees and syrphid flies foraging on daphne (Daphne odora) in the Ruth Risdon Storer Garden, but nearby, in...
A mourning cloak, Nymphalis antiopa, as photographed Feb. 6, 2016 in the Carolee Shields White Flower Garden and Gazebo, UC Davis Arboretum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Mourning cloak touches down Feb. 6, 2016 on a butterfly bush, Buddleia "Morning Mist," in the Carolee Shields White Flower Garden and Gazebo, UC Davis Arboretum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)