Bug Blog
A Posse for the Pieiris?
In case you've forgotten amid all the horn-blowing, champagne-sipping and singing of "Auld Lang Syne," the search is still on to collect the first cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) of 2015 in...
Cabbage white butterfly on catmint. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Buggy New Year!
It's a buggy new year! One of the fascinating things about beginning the new year is the Entomological Society of America's "World of Insects" calendar. Amazing images of insects (and one spider!)...
This photo of a black soldier fly, by Jena Johnson, is "Mr. October" in the ESA calendar. (Photo by Jena Johnson, used with permission)
The ESA calendar cover features this clown grasshopper by Francisco Lopez-Machado of Cali, Colombia. (Photo courtesy of ESA)
"Mr. December" in the ESA calendar is this image of a flameskimmer dragonfly, taken by Kathy Keatley Garvey of UC Davis.
Make Renewals, Not Resolutions
Today is Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014 the last day of the year. Looking back, it was a year of wonder in our pollinator garden, a year filled with flourishing lavender, salvia, catmint, honeysuckle,...
Two Gulf Fritillaries becoming one in the lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A showstopping move and a show of orange. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Spreading the wings! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Soon there will be eggs, larvae, chrysalids and more adults. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Dead Leaves Hanging from a Tree? No, Monarchs
At first glance, they looked like dead leaves hanging on an Eucalyptus tree in the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz. From 75 to 80 feet below, they bore no resemblance to monarch butterflies...
Monarchs roosting on the leaves of a Eucalyptus tree. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sun rays light up the cluster. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of monarchs in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Almonds Are Blooming! The Almonds Are Blooming!
The almonds are blooming! The almonds are blooming! Well, at least one almond tree in the Benicia State Recreation Area is blooming. On a drive to Benicia on Christmas Day, we spotted several blooms...
An almond tree at the Benicia State Recreation Area was blooming on Christmas Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bees working the broccoli blossoms in the Avant Community Garden, Benicia, on Christmas Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee forages on an oxalis blossom on Christmas Day at the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)