Posts Tagged: Asclepias speciosa

A Good News Day: Monarchs on the UC Davis Campus

Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, has been looking for monarchs all year long on the UC Davis...

A monarch butterfly nectaring on a showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in Vacaville, California in June, 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch butterfly nectaring on a showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in Vacaville, California in June, 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum of Entomology associate Greg Karoefelas took this image of a monarch in his backyard in Davis on May 6, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Greg Kareofelas)

Bohart Museum of Entomology associate Greg Karoefelas took this image of a monarch in his backyard in Davis on May 6, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Greg Kareofelas)

Milkweed's New Buddy: It's Not a Monarch

Our showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) is putting on a show. The towering plant--a good eight feet--anchors the garden as...

A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, hanging out on a milkweed in Vacaville, Calif. after molting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, hanging out on a milkweed in Vacaville, Calif. after molting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The exoskeleton that the praying mantis just shed is lying on a milkweed leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The exoskeleton that the praying mantis just shed is lying on a milkweed leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Memo to a Mantis

Dear Ms. Mantis, We see you. You're trying to camouflage yourself, but we see you.  You're hanging out on a showy milkweed, Asclepias...

Find the praying mantis! It's on the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Find the praying mantis! It's on the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis lurking beneath a leaf of the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in a Vacaville, Calif. garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis lurking beneath a leaf of the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in a Vacaville, Calif. garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yes, monarchs are on the menu of the praying mantis. They polish of everything but the wings. This archived image is from Sept. 29, 2015. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yes, monarchs are on the menu of the praying mantis. They polish of everything but the wings. This archived image is from Sept. 29, 2015. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Which One Is Not Like the Other?

So here are all these milkweed bugs clustered on a showy milkweed leaf, Asclepias speciosa. It's early morning and the red bugs are a real eye...

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Orange You Glad It's Almost Halloween?

You can't get any more Halloween than a bold (daring) jumping spider with orange spots! This common North American spider was hanging out...

Orange you glad it's almost Halloween? A juvenile bold jumping spider, Phidippus audax, hangs out on a showy milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Orange you glad it's almost Halloween? A juvenile bold jumping spider, Phidippus audax, hangs out on a showy milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A predator, a bold or daring jumping spider, crawls around on a showy milkweed. Note its iridescent chelicerae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A predator, a bold or daring jumping spider, crawls around on a showy milkweed. Note its iridescent chelicerae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

My safe place! The bold or daring jumping spider peers out at its surroundings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

My safe place! The bold or daring jumping spider peers out at its surroundings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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