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LinkedInPosts Tagged: Cosmos
An Insect Assembled by a Committee?
This is an insect that looks as if it were assembled by a dysfunctional committee: long angular legs, long antennae, and beady eyes on a thin green body. All hail the katydid. It's usually camouflaged, disguised as a leaf in the vegetation--Nature's gift. But in our pollinator garden, we...
A katydid nymph on a rose leaf. The nymphs re wingless and have black and white banded antennae, according to UC IPM.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Katydids chew leaves, flowers, fruit and plant seeds. Here's one on a cosmos. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Time to leave. This katydid escaped from the camera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How Green Is Your Cosmos?
The vibrant colors of Cosmos, an annual flower with the same common name as its genus, are spectacular. But we especially like the showstopping pink Cosmos with its bright yellow center. Well, sometimes, they have a green center--that's when an ultra green sweat bee is foraging. The female...
Long-distance view of a pink Cosmos with a "green" center. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up view of a female ultra green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, on Cosmos. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The female ultra green sweat bee continues to forage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A, B, and C: What They Really Stand for...
Give me an "A" (for excellence). Give me a "B" (for bee). Give me a "C" (for Cosmos). Watching honey bees collect nectar and pollen on the showy Cosmos (Cosmos bipannatus) is not to be missed. As if performing a ballet, the enchanting bees enter stage left and are such show-stoppers that you...
Honey bee heading for a Cosmos. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
All the right moves. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The grand entrance. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The reward: nectar and pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How to Train Your Praying Mantis
We've trained puppies to "come," "sit" and "heel." We've trained an African grey parrot to say "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty! Meow!" We've trained the kitty to ignore the parrot. But how do you train a praying mantis? You don't. Our resident praying mantis, the lean green machine, conceals...
Praying mantis stretches in the African blue basil. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A little aerobics under the cosmos, as a bee does a flyover. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's not "Say cheese!" It's "Say bee!" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Skipping Along
As fall fades and winter beckons, we're still seeing skipper butterflies foraging in cosmos, lantana and other flowers. Lepidopterans study 'em but we just admire 'em. Distinguishing characteristics of skippers include "clubs" on the tips of their antennae, and those huge, compound eyes. The...
A skipper on a cosmos. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a skipper. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
