Backyard Orchard News
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)
No Fun Having a 'Hole in One'
It's no fun having a "hole in one." No, not golf. A hole in your butterfly habitat. So, here it...
Tachinid fly maggot crawls from a monarch chrysalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a tachinid fly maggot, freshly emerged from its host, a monarch chrysalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Size comparison: a penny, a newly emerged tachinid fly maggot and pupae. The maggot will soon darken and harden and turn into a pupa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A June Bridal Couple That Monarch Moms and Dads Will Hate
Ready for those June weddings? Coming to an altar near you...a bride and a groom. "When you marry...
ENT 1 Student Showcase Flyer 2017
Time for a June wedding--an insect wedding photo. These are tachinid flies on a rose leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is a bridal couple photo that monarch moms and dads out there will hate. Close-up of two tachinid flies. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tachinid fly maggots emerging from their host, a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A tachinid fly maggot emerging from its host, a monarch chrysalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Lady Beetle and the Syrphid Fly
So, here I am, an Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) perched on a rose bush in Vacaville,...
A large syrphid fly, Scaeva pyrastri (as identified by Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture), heads for a lady beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Touchdown! The large syrphid fly, Scaeva pyrastri, lands next to the lady beetle.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The syrphid fly licks honeydew from the lady beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids and some scale insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the anus of the aphid.
Do 'Cats Eat Other 'Cats? Do Larva Eat Other Larva?
It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. It's also a 'cat-eat-'cat world, that is, when a caterpillar...
A lady beetle larva attacking and eating a syrphid fly larva. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The lady beetle larva (first photo) grew to an adult like this one. This is an Asian lady beetle. Regarding cannibalism, monarch caterpillars can and do eat one another. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)