Posts Tagged: lavender
UC Davis Arboretum Plant Sale: Think Pollinators!
Think bees. Think butterflies. Think plants that will attract them. The UC Davis Arboretum and...
A black-faced bumble bee, Bombus californicus, forages on Purple Ginny salvia (sage). Sages are popular at the UC Davis Arboretum Plant Sales.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, sips nectars from a butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A pollen-packing honey bee heads for rock purslane, Calandrinia grandiflora. This is one of the plants available at the UC Davis Arboretum Plant Sale on Oct. 7. The plant yields red pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Three's a Crowd: The Saga of Two Stink Bugs and a Bee
So, here we are, a couple of stink bugs hidden in the lavender. Unnoticed. Undetected....
Find the redshouldered stink bugs in the lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee seeking nectar buzzes by the stink bugs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The honey bee ignores the stink bugs and sips nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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)