Backyard Orchard News
Bad Day for a Bee
It was a good day to be a praying mantis. It was not a good day to be a honey bee. Just before...
A praying mantis snares a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The leafcutter bee targets the praying mantis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The leafcutter bee nearly slams into the mantis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis keeps eating. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis polishes off the last morsel. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Lady Beetle and Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars
What's this? A lady beetle, aka ladybug, sharing stories with Gulf Fritillary...
Lady beetle, aka ladybug, with its new "friends"--Gulf Fritillary caterpillars. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary caterpillars move around the lady beetle, aka ladybug. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A touching moment. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary caterpillars will grow up to look like this. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Cactus Climber
He's a survivor. His sisters and brothers didn't eat him when he emerged from the egg case. In...
Praying mantis, perfectly camouflaged, stops in the midpoint of his climb. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis reaches the summit. In the background is a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis folds his spiked forelegs, as if in prayer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eric Mussen to Keynote WAS Conference
Honey bee guru Eric Mussen is retired but the "R" word isn't stopping him. Mussen, who served 38...
Eric Mussen, who retired this summer as Extension apiculturist, will be the keynote speaker on Thursday, Sept. 18 at the Western Apicultural Society conference at the University of Montana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Saving the Monarchs
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation issued news today that is both disturbing and...
Monarch butterfly nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia, as a territorial male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, takes aim. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarch butterfly heading toward a butterfly bush. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is milkweed, the monarch's host plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)