September 1 , 2005 - coyote brush as provender

I spent a few minutes looking over a patch of coyote brush and found quite a nice collection of insects – such as this Spiny Tachina Fly – making a meal of the nectar in this late-blossoming shrub. I noticed that all the insects were dining on female bushes – the yellow flowers of the male bushes were doing almost no business.


Sunlight on compound eyes produces an opalescent effect in this Green Bottle Fly. (Another recent example of this effect is here.)

This somewhat tattered moth was getting into the act as well.

And another species of hover fly.

And a brightly colored wasp. (It was moving so quickly over and thorugh the branches that I doubt it was drinking nectar. Seeking prey? Looking for a place to lay eggs? Who knows?)

You never know what you'll find when you turn over a new leaf. The galls in this willow leaf were created by gall wasps – the wasp larvae have already hatched. The inchworm is an innocent bystander.

It was these bright red galls that inspired further inspection.