Posts Tagged: cactus

To Catch a Cabbage White...On a Wing and a Prayer

To catch a cabbage white butterfly... It was early October and a gravid praying mantis, almost ready to deposit her ootheca, was hungry. She...

Praying mantis: "I'm hungry! What's to eat?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "I'm hungry! What's to eat?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "I shall stretch and offer up a prayer that dinner will arrive." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "I shall stretch and offer up a prayer that dinner will arrive." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "My prayers are answered. Is that what I think it is? Dinner?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "My prayers are answered. Is that what I think it is? Dinner?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "I shall eat everything but the wings." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "I shall eat everything but the wings." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "I'm not finished yet." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "I'm not finished yet." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "My future offspring will appreciate the protein." This mantis is a Stagomantis limbata, as identified by Lohit Garikipati, a UC Davis alumnus studying for his master's degree at Towson University, Towson, Md. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis: "My future offspring will appreciate the protein." This mantis is a Stagomantis limbata, as identified by Lohit Garikipati, a UC Davis alumnus studying for his master's degree at Towson University, Towson, Md. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Behold: A Mexican Cactus Fly on a Mexican Sunflower

It's not often you see a Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, nectaring on a Mexican...

"Aah, nectar!" A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Aah, nectar!" A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Here's looking at you!" A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, sips nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Here's looking at you!" A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, sips nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"My territory!" says a dive-bombing male longhorned bee, a Melissodes agilis, as it targets the Mexican cactus fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"My territory!" says a dive-bombing male longhorned bee, a Melissodes agilis, as it targets the Mexican cactus fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Coming at ya!" A Mexican cactus fly sails over a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey

"Coming at ya!" A Mexican cactus fly sails over a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The wings of the Mexican cactus flower glisten in the morning sun. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The wings of the Mexican cactus flower glisten in the morning sun. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Predator and the Pest

So here's this praying mantis perched on top of a prickly pear cactus. It's early morning and she's hungry. A cabbage white butterfly, looking like...

Breakfast! A hungry praying mantis eyes a cabbage white butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Breakfast! A hungry praying mantis eyes a cabbage white butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

With a lightning strike, the praying mantis grasps the cabbage white butterfly with its spiked forelegs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

With a lightning strike, the praying mantis grasps the cabbage white butterfly with its spiked forelegs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Holding it up like a trophy, the praying mantis begins to eat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Holding it up like a trophy, the praying mantis begins to eat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The praying mantis concentrates on breakfast. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The praying mantis concentrates on breakfast. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Finished! Breakfast is over. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Finished! Breakfast is over. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Cactus Climber

He's a survivor. His sisters and brothers didn't eat him when he emerged from the egg case. In fact, he probably ate some of his brothers and...

Praying mantis, perfectly camouflaged, stops in the midpoint of his climb. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis, perfectly camouflaged, stops in the midpoint of his climb. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis reaches the summit. In the background is a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis reaches the summit. In the background is a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis folds his spiked forelegs, as if in prayer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying mantis folds his spiked forelegs, as if in prayer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lurking in the Orchid Cactus

It's Veterans' Day, but to jumping spiders, it's just another day--another day to ambush unsuspecting prey. We spotted this jumping spider on an...

A jumping spider on an orchid cactus, Epiphyllum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A jumping spider on an orchid cactus, Epiphyllum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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