Posts Tagged: lavender
A Face Only a Mother Could Love?
So there we were, on Mother's Day, looking at the yet-to-bloom English lavender in our yard. And...
A golden dung fly, Scathophaga stercoraria, perched on lavender, stares at the photographer on Mother's Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This golden dung fly, dead, was found on lavender next to live flies. Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, looked at its swollen belly and said it died "from entomophagous fungus--perhaps the same one that 'glues' houseflies to window panes."(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Why Dead Bees Can Sting
Can dead bees sting? Yes, they can. Here's the scenario: Our pollinator garden is buzzing with the...
A California scrub jay nails a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The California scrub jay decapitates the honey bee, avoiding the abdomen with the stinger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is what was left of the honey bee from the photos above. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
On UC Davis Picnic Day, scrub jays had a picnic of their own in the author's yard, decapitating honey bees, and leaving behind the abdomens. Note the stingers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ol' Blue Eyes: A Blue-Eyed Darner
Ol' Blue Eyes. What a treat to see. No, not an old movie starring Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank...
A Rhionaeschna multicolor blue-eyed darner, Aeshna multicolor, soaking up sun on a Spanish lavender in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Find the blue-eyed darner in the Spanish lavender! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
On a Winning Streak!
You're on a winning streak when you spot a gray hairstreak. No, not the streak in Grandpa's...
Gray hairstreak, Strymon mellinus, nectaring on lavender in Vacaville, Calif. in April. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hi, there! A gray hairsteak checks out the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is a European green hairstreak (Callophrys rubi). Charles J. Sharp of Sharp Photography, UK, captured this image in Aston Upthorpe, Oxfordshire. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)
Not a Good Day for the Jumping Spider
Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you go hungry. Take the case of the huge jumping spider (a...
A honey bee narrowly avoids the outstretched jumping spider, a Phidippus audax. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Oops, wrong direction! The jumping spider,Phidippus audax, is looking elsewhere as a bee arrives on the scene. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The jumping spider, Phidippus audax, climbs its mountain and lurks. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The jumping spider, Phidippus audax, exits its summit, the Spanish lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)