Praying Mantis Egg Case on a Mesquite Tree Branch — Image by kenne
While taking some children on a nature walk during the Beyond Tucson Event in Sabino Canyon, I reached up to pull down a mesquite tree branch to demonstrate the small leaf size and spotted a praying mantis egg case — a teaching moment. If I had looked for one, it would not have happen.
Later this spring a hundred or more praying mantis’ will emerge from the case.
kenne
Female Phainopepla — Image by kenne
Phainopepla
Perched high on the mesquite
Sky territory.
kenne
Sunset Over Tucson, Arizona — Image by kenne
Winter in the desert has set in now that all the leaves are off the mesquite trees.
kenne
Female Phainopepla High In A Mesquite Tree — Image by kenne
The phainopepla’s main food while wintering in the Tucson basin are desert mistletoe berries.
When eaten, the hard seeds are then passed through while the phainopepla is perched on their favorite tree branch,
often in a mesquite tree.
Female Plainopela In A Tree with Desert Mistletoe — Image by kenne
The seeds are left on the branch where they can germinate and set up a root system within the host plant.
kenne
