Posts Tagged: yellowjacket
The Beautiful Coloration of a Western Yellowjacket
It's been several months since I've seen a Western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica. But there it was, dead. It had drowned in an...
A yellowjacket (expired) placed on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The black and yellow coloration of the yellowjacket is striking. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Applause for the Pollinators
Bees, butterflies, beetles, birds and bats. What do they have in common? Skipping the alliteration for a moment, they're all pollinators. Honey...
A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, touches down on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The soldier beetle (family Cantharida) is also a pollinator. This insect resembles the uniforms of the British soldiers of the American Revolution. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, and a Western yellowjacket, Vespula penslvanica, sharing a rose. Both are pollinators. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, and a bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, sharing a purple cone flower, Echinacea purpurea. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Portrait of a Yellowjacket
Who takes images of yellowjackets? What, nobody? I don't usually photograph yellowjackets because (1) I prefer to take images of...
A western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, peers at the photographer. It is on a Myoporum at Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, shows its stripes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Dorsal view of a western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Okay, I'm hungry. Enough posing!" A western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, foraging on a Myoporum at Bodega Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Make Way for the Weird and Wonderful Wasps
Meet the "meat bees." Yellowjackets, commonly known as "meat bees," in comparison to the "vegetarian" honey bees, will be among the wasps...
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, and a Western yellowjacket,Vespula pensylvanica, sharing a rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Aren't You Supposed to Be Hibernating?
Dec. 22 marked the winter solstice, the first day of winter. But don't tell that to the western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica. It's supposed...
A western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, flies toward Algerian ivy in mid-December in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, sipping nectar from Algerian ivy in Vacaville, Calif. in mid-December. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)