Tag Archives: Agaves

Japanese White-eye

A Japanese White-eye explores the flowers of an Agave Attenuata.

Praying Mantis waiting

This Praying Mantis spent several days on this Agave Attenuata, waiting patiently for food. There were bees all over the flowers and I think the mantis got some of them, as well as other insects.

I presumed the mantis was a female as it seemed to be getting bigger. A couple of days after taking these photos, the mantis disappeared but I saw an egg sac on a nearby tree, so maybe there will be more on the way!

Stop that incessant buzzing

A gecko and a bee on an agave attenuata in Hawaii

I couldn’t resist returning to the Agave Attenuata currently blooming in the yard. On this occasion, I was watching a gecko buried in the flower when one of the bees that have been collecting from the flowers came into the frame.

The gecko looked decidedly unimpressed by the bee’s proximity, and relieved when it disappeared.

Posted for Becky’s Squares theme of “Walking” (See more responses here).

Slurp

A gold dust day gecko on and agave attentuata

One of the Agave Attenuatas in my yard is currently blooming, the first one here to do that since I’ve lived here. Because of this, when I walk around the garden, I’ve been paying particular attention to this plant. Bees have been busy in the vicinity, but geckos have been equally drawn to the goodies on offer.

Here, a Gold Dust Day Gecko licks one of the unopened flowers. Not sure if it was after moisture, something sweet, or some of the numerous aphids that have can be seen on the plant.

Posted for Becky’s Squares theme of “Walking” (See more responses here).

Sonoran Carpenter Bee

I saw this female Sonoran Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa sonorina) in an Agave Attenuata and at first thought she was dead. But when I went out to look, she moved a bit, then burrowed deeper into the plants and disappeared from sight. I saw her three days in a row on the same plant and then she must have moved on. I’m not sure exactly what she was doing there. She didn’t appear to be collecting pollen but might have been doing so, albeit very slowly!

Agave Sisalana

It’s not hard to spot Agave Sisalana when they put their flower stems 20 feet or so into the air. The problem with that, in a place like North Kohala, is that the trade winds have a tendency to knock them over. They can block roads and driveways, but they’re not like giant trees. They’re pretty easy to cut up and remove.

Even when they’re laying horizontal, so long as there’s some attachment to the ground, the plant will survive and produce flowers.

Bees on agave attenuata

This is the time of year when agave attenuata blooms here. When they do, they’re a magnet for bees, which bustle and burrow through the maze of blooms.