Bug Blog
Wolf at Your Door
So there you are, a little sweat bee, foraging in the buckwheat. You sip some nectar, and suddenly, a flash of yellow. A wolf is at your door. It's a beewolf, a crabronid wasp from the genus...
A beewolf, or crabronid wasp, on buckwheat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Beewolf maneuvering around the buckwheat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of beewolf head. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Beewolf lands on the same flower occupied by a hungry praying mantis. The wasp quickly left. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Medflies: Permanent Residents
Breaking news shook the agricultural world today. The Mediterranean fruit fly, considered the world's worst agricultural pest, is one of at least five fruit flies established in California. It...
Mediterranean Fruit Fly. (Photo by Jack Kelly Clark)
Being Watched
So you're sitting there watching the Gulf Fritillary caterpillars chowing down on the passionflower vines. It's sort of like watching the grass grow, or the paint dry, but there's much more...
A Gulf Fritillary caterpillar ready to eat the leaves of a passionflower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This Gulf Fritillary caterpillar is really chowing down. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A praying mantis watches a ravenous caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bee-Helpful Cover Crops in Vineyards
Kathy Kellison is on a mission: to encourage winegrape growers to plant “Bee-Helpful Cover Crops.” This would include mustards, clover and buckwheat, plants that honey bees...
Honey bee foraging on mustard, a good cover crop for bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Upside down honey bee on mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Courtship in the Lantana
The purple trailing lantana (Lantana montevidensis) is a butterfly magnet. In our yard, it draws gulf fritillaries, Western tiger swallowtails, cabbage whites, and fiery skippers. Lately,...
Courtship in the lantana: the female is on the left, and the male on the right. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Courtship in the lantana: second photo in a series of four. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Courtship in the lantana: third photo in a series of four. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Courtship in the lantana: fourth photo in a series of four. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)