Posts Tagged: Tithonia
Male Longhorned Bees: Boys' Night Out!
Boys' Night Out! Have you ever seen a cluster of longhorned male bees sleeping overnight on a...
Male longhorned bees, Melissodes, spending the night on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia)in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Male longhorned bees, probably Melissodes agilis, begin to wake up after spending the night clustered on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Where Are You, Gulf Fritillaries?
Where are you, Gulf Fritillaries? The Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) population seems to be...
A Gulf Fritillary shares a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) with a hover fly (Syrphid). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary laying an egg on the tendril of a passionflower vine (Passiflora). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up shot of a Gulf Fritillary egg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A very hungry Gulf Fritillary caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed Gulf Fritillary and its chrysalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary spreads its wings on Passiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Autumn's Hues: The Gulf Fritillary and Mexican Sunflower
"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."--Rabindranath Tagore...
A newly eclosed Gulf Fritillary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Gulf Fritillary will soon be able to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The silver-spangled Gulf Fritillary, a showy orange butterfly, looks like two different species. When it spreads its wings, it's orange. The underwings: silver. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Not two butterflies; this is one, the Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The showy Gulf Fritillary on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Henrietta and the Drone Fly: The Predator and the Prey
Henrietta, our Stagmomantis limbata praying mantis, perches on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). She...
Henrietta, our Stagmomantis limbata praying mantis, lies in wait on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia.) (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A drone fly (syrphid) lands on the blossom as a hungry praying mantis watches intently. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
One quick move and praying mantis has dinner. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The spiked forelegs hold the prey in place. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's eat and be eaten in the garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Henrietta the praying mantis polishes off the last of the fly but a wing is visible evidence of what happened. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Frit and the Fly: Who Wins?
The Frit and the fly...or the butterfly and the fly... That would be the Gulf...
The syrphid fly tries to seek some nectar, but the Gulf Fritillary proclaims "This Mexican sunflower is occupied." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The butterfly begins to spread its wings as the syrphid edges closer to the nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The butterfly spreads and flattens its wings. The syrphid does not move. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Maybe if come around from a different direction!" the fly seems to say. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Ah, all mine!" proclaims the fly. "I scared off the butterfly." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)