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Posts Tagged: Asclepias speciosa

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)

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)

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

Posted on Thursday, August 19, 2021 at 7:22 PM
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

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)

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)

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)

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)

Posted on Friday, August 13, 2021 at 8:00 AM
Tags: Art Shapiro (278), Asclepias speciosa (12), monarch (17), praying mantis (129), showy milkweed (7), UC Davis (315)
Focus Area Tags: Environment, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

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...

bugsquadnewDSC 0074 copy
bugsquadnewDSC 0074 copy

Posted on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 7:08 PM
Tags: aphids (55), Asclepias speciosa (12), Hugh Dingle (21), lady beetle (27), ladybug (28), mlkweed bugs (1), red (3)
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Environment, Natural Resources, Pest Management, Yard & Garden

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)

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)

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)

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

Posted on Monday, October 23, 2017 at 4:50 PM

The Monarch Butterflies Arrive!

A little haggard, a little worn, a little ragged, a little torn. But there she was on Monday, Aug. 1, the first monarch of the season to lay eggs in...

A male monarch visits the Mexican sunflower patch in the Garvey pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch visits the Mexican sunflower patch in the Garvey pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male monarch visits the Mexican sunflower patch in the Garvey pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Oops! Time to leave. This male monarch was spooked by longhorn bees targeting him as he nectared on the Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Oops! Time to leave. This male monarch was spooked by longhorn bees targeting him as he nectared on the Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Oops! Time to leave. This male monarch was spooked by longhorn bees targeting him as he nectared on the Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female monarch stops at the tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female monarch stops at the tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female monarch stops at the tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The female monarch spreads its wings. She ended up laying eggs on the tropical milkweed and showy milkweed. Note how tattered she is--the predators missed!(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The female monarch spreads its wings. She ended up laying eggs on the tropical milkweed and showy milkweed. Note how tattered she is--the predators missed!(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The female monarch spreads its wings. She ended up laying eggs on the tropical milkweed and showy milkweed. Note how tattered she is--the predators missed!(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2017 at 4:51 PM

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