Backyard Orchard News
Lacewings! Lacewings! Lacewings!
There it was. A beautiful green lacewing, family Chrysopidae, resting on a yellow Iceland poppy in...
A green lacewing lands on an Iceland poppy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Membranous wings of the green lacewing. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This lacewing was checking its surroundings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What Bees, Butterflies, Beetles, Birds and Bats Have in Common
Bees do it. Butterflies do it. Beetles do it. Birds do it. Bats do it. Do what, you ask? They...
A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, visiting a flowering quince in the UC Davis Arboretum. Butterflies are pollinators. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee pollinating an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A lady beetle pollinating an Iceland poppy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How Many Bumble Bees Have You Seen This Year?
Quick! How many bumble bees have you seen so far this year? For me, it's zero, zilch,...
The yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, on rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A black-faced bumble bee, Bombus fervidus (formerly Bombus californicus) on a coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is the Western bumble bee, Bombus occidentalis, which is declining rapidly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, with a load of red pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Loving the Lupine
It's a given: Honey bees love lupine. We watched them buzzing around a flower patch of blue...
A honey bee heads for lupine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee with a huge pollen load. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Saddlebags? No, a heavy load of pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
In the Pink?
He's never seen anything like it. A pink cabbage white butterfly? Pieris rapae are not...
Ventral view: a cabbage white butterfly sprayed pink. (Photo by Greg Kareofelas)
Dorsal view: the cabbage white butterfly sprayed pink. (Photo by Greg Kareofelas)
A cabbage white butterfly in the wild. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)