Backyard Orchard News
Lagoon Fly: Seeing Spots
Ever seen a lagoon fly? It's a syrphid fly, Eristalinus aeneus,...
The lagoon fly is a syrphid fly, Eristalinus aeneus. This one is foraging on Virginia stock (Malcolmia maritima), in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey).
Ootheca! Ootheca! Ootheca!
If you've been pruning bushes or trees, check to see if a praying mantis egg case (ootheca) is...
An egg case or ootheca of a praying mantis. Mama, a Stagmomantis limbata, deposited it on a redbud tree.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's that on the clothespin? An ootheca or praying mantis egg case. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
About 150 nymphs emerged April 9, 2022 from this ootheca deposited on a clothespin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, waiting for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Presenting: A Butterfly and a Fly
A gray butterfly and a fruit fly... Each has "fly" in its name but one is a member of the...
A fruit fly, Neotephritis finalis, peers up at a gray hairstreak butterfly, Strymon melinus, in a bed of Coreopsis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Closeup of a fruit fly, Neotephritis finalis, an organism commonly known as a "sunflower seed maggot." Green is reflected in its eyes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Today's Honorary Bee Image Award Goes to...a Fly
Today's Honorary Bee Image Award goes to...drum roll...an image of a humble hoverfly appearing on...
A National Geographic Facebook image shows a hover fly masquerading as a bee.
A drone fly, Eristalis tenax, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. It is often mistaken for a bee. Eristalis is a large genus of hoverflies, family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Mary Louise Flint's Article in The Acorn: 'Butterflies in Decline'
You won't want to miss the cover story, "Butterflies in Decline," in the spring 2024 issue of The...
A pipevine swallowtail nectaring on Jupiter's beard in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)