Posts Tagged: cactus
It's Green Friday
Today is Black Friday, a day that marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. It's...
A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, rests on a cactus in Vacaville. She's the last of the season. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
To Catch a Cabbage White...On a Wing and a Prayer
To catch a cabbage white butterfly... It was early October and a gravid praying mantis, almost...
Praying mantis: "I'm hungry! What's to eat?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis: "I shall stretch and offer up a prayer that dinner will arrive." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis: "My prayers are answered. Is that what I think it is? Dinner?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis: "I shall eat everything but the wings." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis: "I'm not finished yet." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis: "My future offspring will appreciate the protein." This mantis is a Stagmomantis limbata, as identified by Lohit Garikipati, a UC Davis alumnus studying for his master's degree at Towson University, Towson, Md. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Behold: A Mexican Cactus Fly on a Mexican Sunflower
It's not often you see a Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, nectaring on a...
"Aah, nectar!" A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Here's looking at you!" A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, sips nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"My territory!" says a dive-bombing male longhorned bee, a Melissodes agilis, as it targets the Mexican cactus fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Coming at ya!" A Mexican cactus fly sails over a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey
The wings of the Mexican cactus flower glisten in the morning sun. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Predator and the Pest
So here's this praying mantis perched on top of a prickly pear cactus. It's early morning and...
Breakfast! A hungry praying mantis eyes a cabbage white butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
With a lightning strike, the praying mantis grasps the cabbage white butterfly with its spiked forelegs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Holding it up like a trophy, the praying mantis begins to eat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis concentrates on breakfast. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Finished! Breakfast is over. (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)