A western tiger swallowtail butterfly on western columbine near Halfway Camp on the Vivian Creek trail on Mt. San Gorgonio.
A section of the trailing edge of the swallowtail’s right hindwing is missing — probably the result of bird predation. This did not seem to affect the butterfly’s flight. It still nimbly flittered from flower to flower.
From Saturday’s San Gorgonio Mountain – Falls Creek run.
Bumblebee on Kotolo milkweed. From a run on Lasky Mesa in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch).
There is yellow, and then there is the YELLOW of the mariposa lily, Calochortus clavatus. Remarkable in its brightness and purity, its yellow is one of the most intense and vibrant concentrations of color I have seen in the chaparral.
It is relatively uncommon, and this is one of a few seen along trails in Rocky Peak Park, and the Simi Hills. Of the varieties listed in the Jepson Manual, this appears most similar to the slender mariposa lily (Calochortus clavatus var. gracilis).
The insect emerging from the flower is a small bee — probably a species of Perdita (Andrenidae). These bees were found on several of the mariposa blossoms along the trail. They were usually near the gland near the base of each petal, and partially hidden by the club-like hairs that gives the species its name.
From a run earlier this week in Rocky Peak Park.
Related posts: Mountain Mariposa, Plummer’s Mariposa Lily
Google search: $g(mariposa lily)
The bright orange-red coloration of these immature large milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) is a warning to predators that they taste bad. Like monarch butterflies, they concentrate foul-tasting compounds from the narrow-leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) in their bodies.
Following several instars (molts), the nymph is transformed into the adult insect.
The photograph is from a run at Sage Ranch on July 23, 2007.
A bee forages on Bigelow’s sneezeweed (Helenium bigelovii) at Little Jimmy Spring. From Sunday’s Islip – Baden-Powell loop.
Mariposa lilies (Calochortus invenustus) blooming through the palmate leaves of a lupine at about 8500 ft., near Sawmill Mountain, west of Mt. Pinos.
According to data from the Consortium of California Herbaria, this species was documented in the Mt. Pinos area as early as 1897.
The wasp-like insect is a hover fly, probably Chrysotoxum festivum.
From Sunday’s Mt. Pinos-Mt. Abel Out & Back run.
Related posts: Plummer’s Mariposa Lily, Bee Fly On Western Wallflower