Bug Blog
Diggin' the Digger Bee
Diggin' the digger bee... We spotted this female digger bee, Anthophora urbana, zooming in on some zinnias at UC Davis. She buzzed loudly, virtually owning the zinnia patch. Smaller sweat bees...
Female digger bee, Anthophora urbana, on zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey),
Female digger bee, Anthophora urbana, peers over the petals of a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Caught in flight, a female digger bee, Anthophora urbana, heads for a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Meet a Carpenter Bee
Meet a carpenter bee. This one (below) is a male carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at the...
Male mountain or foothill carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, on salvia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of male carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tiger by the Tail? Not This Time!
Don't look now, but a garden spider almost grabbed a tiger by the tail. The tiger? That would be the Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus. The ragged wings of the butterfly (below) show...
Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, nectars on a zinnia, unaware of the danger lurking below. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of garden spider tucked beneath the petals. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It Was Not to Bee
The drama unfolds slowly. The crafty praying mantis that's perched atop a zinnia raises its spiked, grasping forelegs and silently waits for unsuspecting prey. A sweat bee cruises by. Then a second...
Unsuspecting honey bee lands on a zinnia occupied by a praying mantis lying in wait. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee crawls toward the center of the zinnia, unaware of the predator. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The honey bee sinks down into the zinnia and is about to forage, as the mantid lies perfectly still. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Danger! The praying mantis strikes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A near miss! The honey bee escapes and buzzes off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Girl and the Bubble
Ah, the little intricacies of life... We were walking along a stretch of the coastal town of Bodega Bay when we spotted something we'd never seen before: a bubble on a syrphid fly. Syrphid flies,...
Syrphid fly (female Sphaerophoria), as identified by senior insect biosystematist Martin Hauser of the CDFA. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Gavrey)
Close-up of "The Girl and the Bubble." See text above for what the bubble is. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)