Posts Tagged: flight

Flight of the Lady Beetle

Have you ever seen a lady beetle, aka ladybird beetle, aka ladybug, take flight? Have you ever photographed it? It's early...

A lady beetle prepares for take-off in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A lady beetle prepares for take-off in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The lady beetle unfolds its wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The lady beetle unfolds its wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

And the lady beetle takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

And the lady beetle takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Flight of the Ladybug, The Origami Master

Ladybug, ladybug fly away homeYour house is on fire and your children are goneAll except one, and her name is AnnAnd she hid under the baking...

This lady beetle, aka ladybug, appears to ponder its next move. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This lady beetle, aka ladybug, appears to ponder its next move. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Which way to go? Or to go at all? Decisions, decisions. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Which way to go? Or to go at all? Decisions, decisions. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The ladybug decides to back up a bit. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The ladybug decides to back up a bit. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Watch me go! A ladybug unfolds its wings and is ready for take-off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Watch me go! A ladybug unfolds its wings and is ready for take-off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Butterfly Ballet: Gulf Fritillary in Action

Sometimes there's a method to our madness, or madness to our method. Take the silver-spangled, orange-reddish butterfly, the Gulf Fritilllary...

A Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Gulf Fritillary, a silver-spangled, orangish-red butterfly, heads for its host plant, Passiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Gulf Fritillary, a silver-spangled, orangish-red butterfly, heads for its host plant, Passiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A dip here, a dive there and you have a butterfly ballet (Gulf Fritillary). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A dip here, a dive there and you have a butterfly ballet (Gulf Fritillary). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gulf Fritillary checking out the passionflower vine (Passiflora). She then laid her eggs on the tendrils and leaves. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gulf Fritillary checking out the passionflower vine (Passiflora). She then laid her eggs on the tendrils and leaves. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This Gulf Fritillary stops for some flight fuel--nectar from lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This Gulf Fritillary stops for some flight fuel--nectar from lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

And the (Bee) Beat Goes On...

It was bound to happen. A "real" honey bee flying alongside "fake" bees on a bee crossing sign. We photographed this honey bee (below) at 1/1000 of...

A honey bee flies in formation with "fake" bees on a bee crossing sign. Bees can flap their wings around 240 times per second. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee flies in formation with "fake" bees on a bee crossing sign. Bees can flap their wings around 240 times per second. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's almost flyover time again. Blue spike sage (Salvia uliginosa) is in the foreground. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's almost flyover time again. Blue spike sage (Salvia uliginosa) is in the foreground. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

We Have a Winner! Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest

We have a winner! And he wasn't even looking for it. A UC Davis graduate student won the “Beer for a Butterfly” contest by collecting...

UC Davis student Jacob Montgomery (left) and Professor Art Shapiro toast the first flight of a cabbage white, found in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis student Jacob Montgomery (left) and Professor Art Shapiro toast the first flight of a cabbage white, found in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Matt Forister's graph of the first flights of the cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae. His graph shows that Jacob Montgomery's find was spot on.

Matt Forister's graph of the first flights of the cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae. His graph shows that Jacob Montgomery's find was spot on.

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