6/27 Observations Round-up: Crawling Along!
The heat of summer is starting to take hold here at Theodore Payne Foundation, but there's still plenty of life buzzing, flitting, crawling, and growing all around us! We'll take a moment to highlight some observations from the last month.
Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are out in force for their breeding and migration season. We've seen 2-3 generations of caterpillars on our narrow leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) so far, with plenty of adults visiting the abundant nectar sources in the gardens. The kotolo milkweed (Asclepias eriocarpa) hasn't seen any caterpillar action yet, but we'll continue to keep an eye out for any larval kings & queens that visit it.
Many other pollinators are also enjoying the abundance of pollen and nectar on these hot days. Many of the various buckwheats (Eriogonum sp.) are in full bloom, providing their boons to visitors such as gray hairstreak butterflies (Strymon melinus). We've also been enjoying spotting our native bees, including the charismatic California bumble bee (Bombus californicus). The bees are frequently caked in pollen, varying in color from deep blood-orange, to pale yellows, and even shades of blue!
One neat observation from this month was a cactus coreid bug (Chelinidea vittiger). These bugs are part of the family coreidae, a large group of sap-sucking insects. The cactus coreid receives both safety and nutrients from the cactus. It hides amongst the spines, safe from predators, and feeds upon the juicy cactus flesh. While mostly considered pests, they're clever little bugs and worth looking out for!
Of course, where there's bugs, there's beasts eating those bugs- there have been a whole heaping pile of leaping lizards at TPF recently! Three species of lizards run the reptile world here, but for today, we'll just touch upon the Western whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris). These striped lizards feed on a variety of invertebrates, including lepidoptera. However, I'm not sure how high their success rate is, as watching a whiptail attempt to catch a butterfly is quite comical. Catching a good photo can be difficult with the speed of these lizards, but its always worth it to see their handsome scaling and funny little faces.
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