Pollinator Week 2023 – Day 7

The first Pollinator Week was observed in 2007 in America after the Senate’s unanimous approval of a resolution that acknowledged the week as a necessary step in recognizing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.  Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated all over the world in the last full week in June.  The event is organized and conducted in support of pollinator health by the Pollinator Partnership.

The week is observed as an international celebration to protect the ecosystems that sustain all pollinators – be they bees, flies, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies or hummingbirds.

As we conclude this weeklong event, let’s focus on one that most of us probably do not think of as a pollinator of flowering plants – hummingbirds.

To download this brochure, visit: https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalFiles/NAPPC_Hummingbirds_Brochure_trifold.pdf

Hummingbirds (family Trochilidae) are only found in the western hemisphere.  Most of the more than 300 species of hummers live in Central and South America.  About 26 species visit the United States during part of the year and 17 breed here.  In North America, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) populate the eastern United States; common species in the west include Broad-tailed (Selasphorus platycercus), Rufous (Selasphorus rufus), and Black-chinned (Archilochus alexandri).  About 8,000 plants in North and South America depend on hummingbirds’ pollination services.

Hummingbirds are most attracted to red, pink, yellow, and orange flowers with tubular blooms as long and skinny as the birds’ beaks.  Hummingbirds drink up to two times their body weight per day.  The tube-like shape of preferred flowers can hold a greater reservoir of nectar to accommodate these birds’ appetites and keep them interacting with pollen for longer periods.  Pollen that sticks to a hummingbird’s feathers and bill gets carried to the next flower it visits.

Examples of native American plants that are pollinated primarily by hummingbirds include:

• American Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans)

Ruby throated hummingbird feeding in a trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans).
Photo by T.G. Barnes, University of Kentucky.

• Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

Photo Credit:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fourhabitatgarden.org%2Fhome%2Fcreatures%2Fbirds%2Fhummingbirds%2Ffood%2F&psig=AOvVaw0mc3Ubw0YRI9oZePLqEroS&ust=1676976999126000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CBAQjhxqFwoTCOiJr6T4o_0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI

• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Photo Credit:
https://indianaaudubon.org/2018/07/30/native-plant-sale-at-audubon-hummingbird-celebration-event-august-11/

Hummingbirds pollinate individual flowers, flowering shrubs, and blooming trees in different ways. Because these birds feed about five to eight times per hour and may visit dozens or hundreds of different flowers daily, there is ample opportunity for a single bird to pollinate multiple flowers by any of these methods:

Simple Disruption:  Just knocking pollen grains around inside a single flower may lead to successful pollination.  When a hummingbird nudges a flower with its bill, that disruption may be enough for pollination to occur.  Their rapid wing beats (~20-80 times per second) create a breeze that also helps to spread pollen from one flower to the next.

Bill Transfer:  Pollen is sticky and can easily adhere to a hummingbird’s bill as it sips nectar from a flower.  When the bird visits a different flower, that pollen is transferred to a new bloom for pollination.

Head Transfer:  Very deep blooms often have tall anthers, which are the parts of a flower covered with pollen.  When a hummingbird inadvertently brushes against the anther, the pollen may stick to the bird’s head to be transferred to the next bloom the bird visits.

A recent study concluded that hummingbirds are more likely to pollinate those plants that do not self-pollinate much more effectively than bees.  Bees often visit all open flowers on one plant before flying to the next.  Therefore, bees mainly encourage self-pollination. Compared to hummingbirds, bees have another disadvantage: they groom intensively during flight and deposit the combed-out pollen in their pollen baskets to feed it to their larvae.  As a result, only a small portion of the pollen reaches the stigma and can fertilize the ovules. Hummingbirds, on the other hand, are not interested in pollen. (SOURCE:  Stefan Abrahamczyk et al, “Influence of plant reproductive systems on the evolution of hummingbird pollination,” Ecology and Evolution (2022). DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8621)

Hummingbirds that breed in North America overwinter in Mexico, though migration corridors vary by species.  Hummingbirds take epic flights that follow the coasts, the spine of the Rockies, or, for the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds of the northeastern U.S., even across the Gulf of Mexico in a long-distance 18-to 22-hour, non-stop flight.  Their migration flights to the north in the spring correspond to flowering times of native plants at their destination.

Today, take a moment to stop and watch these amazingly acrobatic and precise floral visitors and appreciate not only their aerial maneuvers, but also acknowledge their unique contribution in pollinating some of the plants that we humans rely upon for food.  Please check out Pollinator Week and Pollinator Partnership for brochures, resources, and suggested activities to learn how each of us can help ensure that these unique pollinators will forever be part of our world.

Pollinator Week 2023 – Day 6

The first Pollinator Week was observed in 2007 in America after the Senate’s unanimous approval of a resolution that acknowledged the week as a necessary step in recognizing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.  Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated all over the world in the last full week in June.  The event is organized and conducted in support of pollinator health by the Pollinator Partnership.

The week is observed as an international celebration to protect the ecosystems that sustain all pollinators – be they bees, flies, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies or hummingbirds.

As we continue this weeklong event, let’s focus on one that most of us probably do not think of as a pollinator of flowering plants – butterflies.

To download a copy of this brochure, visit: https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalFiles/NAPPC.Monarch.broch.Aug.2019.hiRes.pdf.

The pollinating butterfly families are mainly skippers (Hesperiidae) and common butterflies (Papilionoidea).

Second only to bees as a pollinator, butterflies have color preferences with purple, yellow, white and orange blooms being the top choices.  Butterflies are less efficient than bees at moving pollen between plants.  Highly perched on their long thin legs, they do not pick up much pollen on their bodies and lack specialized structures for collecting it.

However, when it comes to cotton (genus Gossypium), butterflies play an unexpected role.  A recent study revealed that 40 bee species, 16 fly species, and 18 butterfly species visited cotton flowers at different times throughout the day.  Flies would be out early, perhaps because they tend to nest in the fields.  Then, butterflies would arrive; by the time the day’s temperature became quite hot, bees were out in force.  Researchers also discovered that various insects tended to visit different parts of the cotton plant.  Bees preferred to forage on inner flowers, closer to the main stem.  Flies and butterflies landed on outer flowers, possibly because they’re less nimble fliers.  These preferences essentially mean roughly 50% more flowers are visited, thanks to flies and butterflies, than if bees were the only pollinators.  This phenomenon, which goes by the technical term pollination complementarity, isn’t unique to cotton.  In almond orchards, wild bees and domesticated honeybees visit different parts of the trees.  Complementarity could be more common than currently realized.  (SOURCE:  S. Cusser, Haddad, N. M., and S. Jha. “Unexpected functional complementarity from non-bee pollinators enhances cotton yield” Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. Volume 314, 107415, ISSN 0167-8809, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2021.107415 (2021))

SOURCE: https://www.butterflyidentification.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Parts-of-a-Butterfly.jpg

Butterflies probe for nectar, their flight fuel, and typically favor the flat, clustered flowers that provide a landing pad and abundant rewards.  Butterflies do not have any chewing mouthparts.  Instead, they eat by sipping liquids, most often nectar, through their proboscis.  A butterfly’s proboscis can be found curled neatly on the lower side of the head when the butterfly is not eating.  When a butterfly does eat, the proboscis is extended through hydrostatic pressure into a relatively straight “straw” which it can then insert into the deep tubes of a flower in order to sip the nectar.

A UV-visible nectar guide. Photography of Rudbeckia hirta in either visible (left) or false-coloured reflected UV light (right) reveals the nectar guide visible to insects but not the human eye. 
SOURCE:  From landing lights to mimicry: The molecular regulation of flower colouration and mechanisms for pigmentation patterning – Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-UV-visible-nectar-guide-Photography-of-Rudbeckia-hirta-in-either-visible-left-or_fig3_230730335 [accessed 19 Feb, 2023]

Butterflies have good vision, but a weak sense of smell.  Unlike bees, butterflies can see red and they also see ultraviolet light, which makes flower markings very distinct to them; those flower markings, called nectar guides, direct the butterfly to the nectar source on such flowers.

Nutritionally, nectar serves as a source of water, carbohydrates and amino acids for butterflies; the latter allows them to meet their nitrogen requirements.  Interestingly, butterfly-pollinated flowers tend to have higher concentrations of amino acids than do flowers pollinated by bees and other animals.  This is remarkable since insects like butterflies, whose larval stages feed on plant foliage and adult stages on nectar, have long been assumed to obtain most or all of their nitrogen-rich compounds needed for reproduction from larval feeding.  Going against this assumption, it has been shown that both nectar consumption and larval food intake can affect the life span and fecundity (number of offspring produced) of some butterfly species.  For example, a study found that nitrogen-rich compounds (amino acids) present in nectar significantly increased the fecundity of the nectar-feeding butterfly Map (Araschnia levana), which is found in Europe, Asia and Russia.  However, it was enhanced only if the female fed on a poor-quality plant as a larva.  Therefore, this suggests that nectar can act as a necessary dietary complement if a butterfly fed on a nitrogen-poor plant as a larva.  (SOURCE:  Mevi-Schutz J, Erhardt A. Amino acids in nectar enhance butterfly fecundity: a long-awaited link. Am Nat. 2005 Apr;165(4):411-9. doi: 10.1086/429150. Epub 2005 Feb 11. PMID: 15791533.)

Each species of butterfly has a particular host plant and nectar plant, the former being the plant on which it lays its eggs and caterpillars eat, and the latter being the plant from which butterflies drink nectar.  This is why it is extremely important to conserve the native biodiversity of each ecosystem; if a butterfly species loses either its host or nectar plant, it can no longer survive and vice versa.

SOURCE: https://journeynorth.org/sites/default/files/2019-02/migration_map_xerces.jpg

As the only butterfly species that completes a two-way migration, Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) from as far north as Canada set out on a fall migration to glide south until they reach the oyamel fir forests of Michoacán Mexico.  Individual butterflies live four to five weeks on average, so it is their descendants—most likely their great-great-grandchildren—that will return to the northern states in the spring and complete this epic journey.  Accordingly, these unique and wondrous butterflies are a cultural icon in each nation comprising North America.  Read more.

Today, take a moment to stop and watch these graceful floral visitors and acknowledge their essential contribution in pollinating so many plants that we humans rely upon for food.  Please check out Pollinator Week and Pollinator Partnership for brochures, resources, and suggested activities to learn how each of us can help ensure that these beautiful pollinators will forever be part of our world.

What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week? (June week 4)

This week, I’m featuring Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

PLEASE NOTE:  Culturally Significant Plant = Ethnobotanic Uses: People have used milkweed for fiber, food, and medicine all over the United States and southern Canada.  Read more.

Fibers from the inner bark of the stem are both strong and soft, and, together with the floss attached to its seeds, was used historically by American Indians for cordage and textiles.  During World War II, American children were enlisted to collect 1.5 billion milkweed pods that provided thousands of pounds of milkweed floss to stuff life jackets and flight suits for soldiers.  A little over a pound of the cotton-like milkweed floss could keep a soldier afloat for over 40 hours.  Read more.

Description:

Common Milkweed is a perennial forb growing up to 6’ tall whose stem is unbranched, except sometimes toward near the top of the plant where the flowers occur.  The central stem is relatively stout, pale green, and usually covered with short hairs.  The opposite leaves are up to 8″ long and 3½” wide, broadly oblong in shape, and smooth along their margins.  Leaf pairs often perpendicular to each other with short petioles.

Common Milkweed

Photo Credit: (c) 2008 Katy Chayka,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/common-milkweed#lboxg-2

All parts of common milkweed plants produce a white latex when cut.

Slightly pendulous spherical umbels of flowers, each about 2½-4″ across, emerge from the axils of the upper leaves.  A single plant may have up to three umbels and each umbel may contain as many as 100 flowers, but most contain ~30 flowers.  Flowers are quite fragrant and they range in color from faded light pink to reddish purple.  Each flower is about ¼” across, consisting of 5 petals that reflex backward exposing 5 raised hoods with a curved horn protruding through each.  The hoods are more light-colored than the petals.  The flower stems (pedicels) are 1 ½ inch long, light green to pale red in color, and hairy.

Common Milkweed

The seedpods (follicles) are 3-4″ long, broadly lanceoloid, and covered with soft prickles and short woolly hairs.  Common Milkweed can be distinguished from other milkweeds by these prickly seedpods – other Asclepias species have seedpods that are smooth, or nearly so.  They are green initially, turning brown as they mature; each is weather resistant and eventually becomes grayish, aiding in this plant’s winter identification.

Photo Credit:
https://monarchwatch.org/bring-back-the-monarchs/milkweed/milkweed-profiles/asclepias-syriaca/

Each seedpod contains many compact rows of overlapping flat, brown seeds, each with a papery wrapping and a large tuft of silky white hair (coma) attached.  When the pod splits open in the fall, the seeds separate and are carried away by the wind.

Photo Credit: https://www.canr.msu.edu/pestid/uploads/images/Common-milkweed-mature-fruit.jpg

Common Milkweed seeds

The large leaves become a muted yellow in the fall.

Folklore:

Milkweed as a flower essence is used to raise the soul from a state of lethargy and regressive helplessness and to wake up a pathologically withdrawing ego.

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

When either the central stem or any leaves are torn, a milky sap oozes out that has variable toxicity in the form of cardiac glycosides.  Accordingly, it is not advised to eat this plant.  Instead, please leave them for the Monarch Butterfly caterpillars!

Native Americans used the young leaves and stems as well as the flower buds of this species as food.  Unopened flower buds, when cooked, taste somewhat like peas.  They have a mucilaginous texture and can be used as a flavoring agent and thickener in soups.  The flower clusters can be boiled down to make a brown sugary syrup.  Most foragers prefer to cook (which requires a change of water during the process to remove bitterness) and eat the young seed pods when they are ~1.5” long.

The genus name, Asclepias, commemorates Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine.  Common Milkweed has a history of medicinal use.  The leaves or the plant’s milky latex sap are used in folk remedies for asthma, bronchitis, cancer, catarrh, cough, dropsy, dysentery, dyspepsia, fever, gallstones, gonorrhea, moles, pleurisy, pneumonia, rheumatism, ringworm, scrofula, sores, tumors, ulcers, warts, and wounds.  It has been reported to be an alterative (able to restore normal health, anodyne (painkiller), cathartic (strong laxative), cicatrisant (heal by formation of scar tissue), diaphoretic (induces sweating), diuretic (induces urination), emetic (induces vomiting), emmenagogue (stimulates or increases menstrual flow), expectorant (helps clear mucus from airway), laxative (loosens stool and increases bowel movements), and nervine (calms nervous system).  In addition, the Mohawk Indians used a combination of milkweed and jack-in-the-pulpit as an antifertility or contraceptive agent.  The rhizome is used as an antiedemic (counteracts abnormal infiltration and excess accumulation of fluid in connective tissues) and emmenagogue in dropsy and dysmenorrhea.

Wildlife Value:

The flowers are very popular with many kinds of insects, especially butterflies (such as Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia), Delaware Skipper (Anatrytone logan), Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus), Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus), Striped Hairstreak (Satyrium liparops), and Queen Butterfly (Danaus gilippus)), flies, long-tongued bees (such as European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) and native bumblebees (like Brown-belted Bumblebee (Bombus griseocollis)), moths (such as Eight-spotted Forester (Alypia octomaculata), hummingbird moths, and Sphinx moths), and wasps, which seek nectar.  The nectar of Common Milkweed is nearly 100% sucrose.  Numerous insects are attracted to these nectar-laden flowers and it is not at all uncommon to see a variety of pollinators on the flowers at the same time.

Among these, the larger butterflies, long-tongued bees, and predatory wasps are more likely to remove the pollinia from the flowers, which are packets of pollen that are transferred as a single unit during pollination.

Some of the smaller insects can have their legs entrapped by the flowers and die.

Photo Credit: (c) Randy Tindall,
http://nadiasyard.com/our-native-plants/milkweed-common-asclepias-syriaca-uncommon-versatility/

The caterpillars of Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippes) feed on the foliage, as do the caterpillars of a few moths, including Delicate Cycnia (Cycnia tenera) and Milkweed Tiger Moth (Enchaetes egle).  However, Asclepias is the onlyplant family that serves as the host plant for Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippes) caterpillars; they feed exclusively on milkweed leaves.  The glycosides present in Common Milkweed, when absorbed by these larvae, make them and adult butterflies toxic to birds and other predators.  Without milkweed, there can be no Monarch butterflies.  Each fall, millions of Monarch butterflies from eastern North America migrate to 10–13 discrete colonies in the Oyamel forests of central Mexico.

Monarch butterfly overwintering colonies are found in Mexico’s oyamel fir forest.
Photo Credit: https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/journeynorth.org/images/graphics/monarch/maps/MexicanOWSites2_Final_800.jpg

Some bugs, both as nymphs and adults, feed on the developing seeds of Common Milkweed.  They include the Large Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus) and the Small Milkweed Bug (Lygaeus kalmii).  They can destroy up to 90 percent of a milkweed colony’s seed crop!

Large Milkweed Bug adults and nymphs.
Photo Credit: David Taylor, https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/asclepias_syriaca.shtml

Predated seeds.
Photo Credit: David Taylor, https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/asclepias_syriaca.shtml

Animals don’t eat this plant because of the bitterness of the leaves and their toxic properties.

Where Found Locally:

• 100 Acre Wood
• Anchor Diamond Park at Hawkwood
• Ann Lee Pond Nature and Historic Preserve
• Ballston Creek Preserve
• Balsam Way Natural Area
• Community Connector Trail
• Dwaas Kill Nature Preserve
• Fox Preserve
• Garnsey Park
• Hayes Nature Park
• Historic Champlain Canalway Trail
• Mohawk Landing Nature Preserve
• North Woods Nature Preserve
• Peter Desrochers Memorial Country Knolls Trails
• Settlers Hill Natural Area
• Shenantaha Creek Park
• Stillwater Multi-Use Trail
• Summer Hill Natural Area
• Swatling Falls Nature Trails
• Town Park
• Ushers Road State Forest
• Veterans Bike Path
• Veterans Memorial Park
• Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve
• West Sky Natural Area
• Woodcock Preserve
• Zim Smith Trail

Foraging for Wild Thyme

Wild Thyme (Thymus pulegioides) is a small, branched herb that looks like a miniature version of the thyme you find in the supermarket.  It has reddish-brown, woody stems and small (¼″ – ½″ long), green, oval, opposite leaves.  Wild Thyme develops dense clusters of tiny pink-purplish flowers at the top of each stem.  Plants are often found in dense colonies that carpet an area, and when the plant is flowering, its aromatic qualities add a wonderful fragrance to your foraging or hiking outing.  This species prefers dry, sandy soil where there’s plenty of sunlight.

Wild Thyme is perfectly edible (both its leaves and flowers), same as regular thyme, and you can forage it while it’s in bloom.  It should begin blooming locally at this time.

Clip the sprigs with a good pair of scissors, but don’t cut too far down because it will stop the plant from growing.  If you’re only going to use the flowers, only clip off the top portion of the plant.

Wild Thyme contains significant amounts of vitamins A and B-complex, as well as minerals like calcium, potassium and magnesium.  The mature tops contain an essential oil consisting primarily of natural compounds thymol and carvacrol, which give the leaves and blossoms their aroma and taste.  The herb also contains tannins, bitter compounds, and organic acids, which together with thymol and carvacrol offer digestive benefits, as well as antibiotic, antibacterial and antioxidant properties.

If you forage more Wild Thyme than you can put to use in its fresh form in a couple of days, or if you simply wish to store a portion of your harvest for future use, read How to Dry Thyme at Home.

Recipes for your culinary consideration:

• Artichoke and Wild Thyme Soup
• Chamomile & Za’atar (Wild Thyme) Herbal Tea
• Chicken with Wild Thyme
• Classic Rice Pudding with Pan-fried Raspberries and Wild Thyme
• Fillet of Venison with a Wild Thyme and Blueberry Sauce
• Flowering Thyme Liqueur
• French Fries with Butter and Wild Thyme
• French Wild Thyme Chicken
• Fresh Tagliolini with Creme Fraiche & Wild Thyme Flowers
• Globe Artichokes with Orange Blossom and Wild Thyme
• Grapefruit Thyme Fizz
• Grilled Chicken with Lemon and Wild Thyme
• Homemade Flower Salt
• Mallard with Wild Thyme & Green Peppercorns
• Orange and Wild Thyme Mussel Tart
• Pickled Wild Thyme
• Pickled Wild Thyme Salad
• Rack of Lamb with Wild Thyme and Mirabelle Plums
• Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
• Saffron Chicken with Tomato Stew, Feta and Wild Thyme
• Salatat Zaatar (Green Wild Thyme Salad)
• Tea Thyme Cocktail
• Wild Strawberry and Wild Thyme Ice Cream
• Wild Thyme Cheese Bread Balls
• Wild Thyme Chicken
• Wild Thyme Chicken Lasagna Salad
• Wild Thyme Flower and Goat Cheese Tart
• Wild Thyme Leg of Lamb
• Wild Thyme Margarita
• Wild Thyme Oatcakes
• Wild Thyme Onion Rings
• Wild Thyme Pie
• Wild Thyme Pork Chops and Wild Thyme Pork Chops
• Wild Thyme Roasted Chicken & Potatoes
• Wild Thyme Salad
• Wild Thyme Schnapps
• Wild Thyme Soup
• Wild Thyme Spice Blend
• Wild Thyme Spread
• Wild Thyme Summer Salad
• Wildly Good Wild Thyme, Quinoa and Goat Cheese Salad
• Zaatar (Wild Thyme) Herbal Mix
• Za’atar (Wild Thyme) Bread

One last simple suggestion:  infuse it in an apple cider vinegar to make a fragrant salad dressing.  Bon appetit!

Happy foraging!

Pollinator Week 2023 – Day 5

The first Pollinator Week was observed in 2007 in America after the Senate’s unanimous approval of a resolution that acknowledged the week as a necessary step in recognizing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.  Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated all over the world in the last full week in June.  The event is organized and conducted in support of pollinator health by the Pollinator Partnership.

The week is observed as an international celebration to protect the ecosystems that sustain all pollinators – be they bees, flies, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies or hummingbirds.

As we continue this weeklong event, let’s focus on one that most of us probably do not think of as a pollinator of flowering plants – moths.

While some flowers close when the sun goes down (the technical term for this is floral nyctinasty), most flowers are still accessible at night.  When our day-active (diurnal) pollinators turn in for the evening, nocturnal pollinators such as moths, bats, beetles, and even some species of bees take on the night shift to feast on nectar.

The flowers of some plants open in the evening and become more fragrant at night, luring in moths, which depend on scent to find food.  These flowers also tend to be white or pale in color to reflect moonlight, allowing them to be easily seen at a distance by nocturnal pollinators.

FOOD FLIGHT — Nocturnal pollinators like this moth in the Eupithecia family were long thought to have little food crop value. But a three-year study on apple trees at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Experiment Station shows nocturnal pollinators do just as much pollinating as non-native honeybees during daylight hours. Photo Credit: https://aaes.uada.edu/news/night-pollinator/

Nocturnal flowers with pale or white flowers heavy with fragrance and copious dilute nectar, attract these pollinating insects.  Moths visit the flowers that emit their most pungent fragrances at night, which many daytime pollinators miss, such as Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens) and honeysuckle (Lonicera).

Not all moth pollinators are nocturnal; some moths are also active by day.  Some moths hover above the flowers they visit while others land.

The white-lined sphinx (Hyles lineata) belongs to a group of moths known as hawk or hummingbird moths, due to their resemblance to hummingbirds in flight. Adults will visit flowers from dusk to dawn, and occasionally can be seen during the day. (Photo: Xerces Society / Stephanie McKnight.) https://xerces.org/blog/the-night-shift-moths-as-nocturnal-pollinators

Similarly, Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) moths are able to access nectar from flowers with deep blooms, and are excellent at pollinating a variety of wildflowers including vetch and clover.

Photo Credit: https://www.calgary.ca/parks/wildlife/moths.html

The flowers that are visited by moths typically provide landing platforms, exhibit white or dull colors, and open late afternoon or night.

A recent study in England found that more pollen is transported on the moth’s ventral thorax, their chest, rather than on their proboscis, their tongue.  As moths sit on the flower while feeding, their furry bodies touch the plant’s reproductive organs, resulting in the collection of that flower’s pollen onto their bodies as well as the simultaneous transfer of pollen off of their bodies that had been collected from preceding floral visits.  Researchers swabbed 838 moths and found that 381 of them transported pollen from 47 different plant species, including at least seven rarely visited by bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Meanwhile, a network of 632 bees, wasps, hoverflies and butterflies visited 45 plant species and 1,548 social bees visited 46 plant species.  (SOURCE:  Walton RE, Sayer CD, Bennion H, Axmacher JC. 2020 Nocturnal pollinators strongly contribute to pollen transport of wild flowers in an agricultural landscape. Biol. Lett. 16: 20190877. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0877)

However, a number of moths are specialist pollinators that have developed a co-dependent relationship with specific plants.  For example, plants of the genus Yucca are dependent upon yucca moths of the genera Tegeticula or Parategeticula for their perpetuation and the caterpillars of those moths feed only on yucca seeds.  The pistil (female part) of each flower ends in a three-lobed stigma.  In order for pollination to occur, masses of pollen must be forced down into this central stigmatic hole.

Hidden inside the creamy-white flowers of the yucca plant, the tiny yucca moth provides an essential link in the life cycle of the plants: it is the flowers’ only pollinator. Yucca plants and yucca moths have coevolved to rely entirely on each other. The yucca moth is the only pollinator for the flowers, and the moth caterpillars feed only on yucca seeds. (Photo: Kaitlin Haase.)
https://xerces.org/blog/the-night-shift-moths-as-nocturnal-pollinators

The female yucca moth gathers pollen from the flower anthers by using her specially adapted mouthparts.  She forms the sticky pollen into a ball.  The pollen ball is then “stuffed” or “combed” into the stigma of the various flowers she visits.  Without this process, the yucca flower will not develop into the fruit or pod with seeds.

When the female moth visits the flower, she backs up to the flower base and inserts her ovipositor to lay an egg in one or more of the six chambers.  The chamber protects the egg while it develops.  By the time the egg hatches into a microscopic caterpillar, the yucca will have begun to develop a pod with little seeds.  The yucca and the yucca moth both benefit in the relationship.

Another study found that pollen transported by moths belonged to plant groups that include commercial- or allotment-scale crops, including Common Pea (Pisum sativum), Rapeseed (Brassica napus), cherry (Prunus), and raspberry and blackberry species (Rubus).  Those preliminary findings emphasize a need to formally investigate the degree to which nocturnal pollination might contribute to yields in a wide range of insect-pollinated crops.  (SOURCE:  Macgregor, C.J., Kitson, J.J.N., Fox, R., Hahn, C., Lunt, D.H., Pocock, M.J.O. & Evans, D.M. (2019) Construction, validation, and application of nocturnal pollen transport networks in an agro-ecosystem: a comparison using light microscopy and DNA metabarcoding. Ecological Entomology 44, 17-29. https://doi.org/1111/een.12674)

Pollen transport by moths may play an important role in facilitating genetic diversity in plant communities across landscapes, as adult moths tend to move much longer distances between patches of plants than bees, which forage around a specific nest location.

Today, take a moment to stop and ponder about (and hopefully seize the opportunity to witness) these principally nocturnal floral visitors and acknowledge their important contribution in pollinating (as yet an unknown) number of plants that we humans rely upon for food.  Please check out Pollinator Week and Pollinator Partnership for brochures, resources, and suggested activities to learn how each of us can help ensure that these nighttime pollinators will forever be part of our world.

Pollinator Week 2023 – Day 4

The first Pollinator Week was observed in 2007 in America after the Senate’s unanimous approval of a resolution that acknowledged the week as a necessary step in recognizing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.  Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated all over the world in the last full week in June.  The event is organized and conducted in support of pollinator health by the Pollinator Partnership.

The week is observed as an international celebration to protect the ecosystems that sustain all pollinators – be they bees, flies, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies or hummingbirds.

As we continue this weeklong event, let’s focus on one that most of us probably do not think of as a pollinator of flowering plants – beetles.

Scientists believe that beetles were the first pollinators, starting around 200 million years ago in the Mesozoic, and that these insects were doing so some 50 million years before bees evolved as pollinators.  The process of beetle pollination is called cantharohily.

Beetles make up the largest group of pollinating animals because of their large numbers and are the most diverse group of pollinators in the United States.  Worldwide, more than 77,000 beetle species are estimated to visit nearly 90% of the almost 350,000 flowering plant species.  While native paw-paws (Asimina triloba) and atemoya (Annona × atemoya) are some of the only crops in America known to be pollinated by beetles, more than 50 native plant species are pollinated exclusively by beetles in Canada and the U.S.

The flowers visited by beetles typically possess one or more of the following traits:

• Flower description:  Flowers visited by beetles may be large and solitary (e.g. magnolias, water lilies) to provide beetles with an easy platform for landing, or likely clusters of small flowers (e.g., goldenrods, spirea); either way, the floral rewards are easily accessible to these generally clumsy visitors.
• Flower color:  Most beetles are attracted to dull-colored, greenish or white, and reddish brown or dark flowers.  Although beetles do have color vision, they rely primarily on their sense of smell to find flowers.
• Floral odors:  Most beetles base their long-distance floral location on floral odors. Many flowers pollinated exclusively by beetles display strong fragrances such as the smell of decaying plant or animal material, fermented fruits, or aromatic spices.
• Pollen load:  Beetles mostly frequent those plants whose flowers produce plenty of easily-accessible pollen.
• Heated:  Some heat-producing plants that attract beetles often use heat as a reward for pollination; they belong to the families Nymphaeaceae, Illiciaceae and Magnoliaceae.

A wide variety of flowering plants, such as goldenrod (Solidago), spirea (Spiraea), spicebush (Lindera), yarrow (Achillea), sunflower (Helianthus), and wintersweet (Chimonanthus), are visited by flower-visiting families of beetles like checkered beetles (Cleridae), false blister beetles (Oedemeridae), jewel beetles (Buprestidae), leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae), some longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), pollen/sap beetles (Nitidulidae),rove beetles (Staphylinidae), scarabs (Scarabeidae), soldier beetles (Cantharidae), tumbling flower beetles (Mordellidae), and some weevils (Curculionidae).

SOURCE: https://metroparkstoledo.com/discover/blog/posts/remarkable-pollinators-part-3/

Beetles rarely visit flowers for the typical nectar that other famous pollinators seek, and this reward is actually often absent or moderately produced in the flowers that beetles frequent.  The most important reward beetles are after when visiting flowers is protein-rich pollen.  Beetles generally do not have any specialized structures or mechanisms for picking up pollen; rather, pollen grains simply stick to their bodies as they move from flower to flower.

Though most beetles visit flowers solely for pollen, there are some species that desire more.  Many beetle families such as checkered beetles (Cleridae), and blister beetles (Meloidae) are known to use other floral resources.  Indeed, some prefer to simply eat the floral structures (e.g., petals, anthers) or lick floral secretions.

Locust Borer Beetle (Megacyllene robiniae) on goldenrod.
Photo Credit: Beatriz Moisset 2002, https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/animals/images/lbbeetlewewb_lg.jpg

Today, take a moment to stop and ponder about (and hopefully curiously watch) these clumsily flying insects and acknowledge their important contribution in pollinating some plants that we humans rely upon for food.  Please check out Pollinator Week and Pollinator Partnership for brochures, resources, and suggested activities to learn how each of us can help ensure that these armored pollinators will forever be part of our world.

Pollinator Week 2023 – Day 3

The first Pollinator Week was observed in 2007 in America after the Senate’s unanimous approval of a resolution that acknowledged the week as a necessary step in recognizing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.  Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated all over the world in the last full week in June.  The event is organized and conducted in support of pollinator health by the Pollinator Partnership.

The week is observed as an international celebration to protect the ecosystems that sustain all pollinators – be they bees, flies, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies or hummingbirds.

As we continue this weeklong event, let’s focus on one that most of us probably do not think of as a pollinator of flowering plants – wasps.

The vast majority of wasps are solitary and many are parasitic.  Though bees are often mistaken for wasps, a simple way to differentiate them is that wasps contain a pointed lower abdomen and a narrow petiole “waist” that separates the abdomen from the thorax.  Wasps also tend to be less hairy than bees and, therefore, are less fuzzy looking.

SOURCE: https://woolstoneyes.com/flora-and-fauna/insects-and-spiders/

The lack of hairs does not allow for many pollen grains to attach to their bodies. Consequently, wasps are much less efficient at carrying pollen than their bee relatives.  Further, being carnivorous, wasps are interested in flower blossoms mostly as a nectar source (for energy), and not as a source of proteins (from pollen).  However, wasps frequently visit flowers in search of insect prey.

Flowers that generally attract wasps have specific floral traits, such as:

• dull coloration (NOTE:  most wasps can see ultra-violet (UV) light, and tend to visit white- or yellow-colored flowers such as those in the parsley (Apiacea) family),
• unusual odor, and
• readily accessible (exposed) and concentrated nectar. (NOTE:  The majority of wasps have very short mouthparts or tongues, and as such, can obtain nectar only from shallow flowers.)

In some plant systems and environments, wasps can become the most efficient pollinator, surpassing bees.  For example, a study found that in some environments, the Western Yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica) was a more effective pollinator than the Western (AKA European) Honey Bee (Apis mellifera).  In that investigation, it was observed that pollen of the California Beeplant (Scrophularia californica) was more efficiently transferred by Vespula wasps than by honey bees, which visited the plant but did not pollinate.  The median number of pollen grains delivered per individual floral visitor also varied among the groups:  Apis = 4 and Vespula = 34.  As a result, this study demonstrated that even though honey bees seemed to be the most abundant floral visitor, the Western Yellowjacket was the most effective pollinator.  (SOURCE:  D. M. Thomson.  “Effects of long-term variation in pollinator abundance and diversity on reproduction of a generalist plant” Journal of Ecology. 107:491-502  (2019))

Though wasps are sometimes the best pollinator of some generalist flowers, they are typically recognized as specialist pollinators.  Specialist pollinators are very selective in their floral choices, and frequent flowers of one or a very few plant species.  In instances where this type of specialization has evolved, rewards involved are either special (e.g., brood site for fig wasps) or inexistent in that the wasp is lured and exploited by the plant (e.g., orchids that mimic female wasps).  In either case, the plant reproduction relies exclusively on these specialized visitors. (NOTE: I think you’ll enjoy viewing each of the two links immediately above.)

Among wasps, the Masarinae, or pollen wasps, differ from their omnivorous Vespid wasp relatives by rearing their young on nectar and pollen, rather than other insects.  Unlike their vespid wasp cousins, they exhibit the bee-like habit of providing each larval brood cell with pollen and nectar.  Females of these wasps use their mouthparts to gather pollen and nectar from flowers and for nest construction.  Because pollen wasps feed solely on nectar and pollen, they are also known as the “vegetarian” wasps.  Even though there is some morphological diversity in the group, most species are brown and black, with contrasting patterns of white, red and yellow.

Pollen wasps are unique among wasps, not only because of their diets, but also because of their behavior.  In fact, many of their characteristics resemble bees.  For instance, like most bees, they are solitary.  However, while many bees display a corbicula (pollen basket) on their hind legs to transport pollen, pollen wasps collect pollen in their crop, which is an expanded portion of their digestive track that can be used to temporarily store pollen and nectar.

The outside of a hindleg. You can see the indentation where the compressed pollen will accumulate,
called a tibial corbicula or “pollen basket.”
Photo Credit: © Rusty Burlew, https://www.honeybeesuite.com/how-the-honey-bee-makes-pollen-pellets/

Pollen wasps are known to specialize in foraging on very specific flowers, including beardtongues, borages and tansies, in which they play an important role as pollinators.  For instance, a number of rare beardtongue species rely on Pseudomasaris vespoides pollination, giving the insect an important role in maintaining ecological diversity.

Today, take a moment to stop and (cautiously) watch these warrior-like insects and acknowledge their surprisingly important contribution in pollinating some of the plants that we humans rely upon for food.  Please check out Pollinator Week and Pollinator Partnership for brochures, resources, and suggested activities to learn how each of us can help ensure that these often unwelcomed pollinators will forever be part of our world.

Pollinator Week 2023 – Day 2

The first Pollinator Week was observed in 2007 in America after the Senate’s unanimous approval of a resolution that acknowledged the week as a necessary step in recognizing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.  Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated all over the world in the last full week in June.  The event is organized and conducted in support of pollinator health by the Pollinator Partnership.

The week is observed as an international celebration to protect the ecosystems that sustain all pollinators – be they bees, flies, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies or hummingbirds.

As we continue this weeklong event, let’s focus on one that most of us probably do not think of as a pollinator of flowering plants – flies.

Flies are two-winged insects and principally differ from bees in that bees have two pair of wings.  Unlike honeybees, flies don’t need to carry pollen and nectar back to a hive.  They simply visit flowers to sip on the nectar themselves.  Carrying pollen from one flower to the next is incidental.  But, since these airborne busybodies require frequent refueling throughout their daily excursions, their incidential pollen distribution during these numerous daily visits all sum up as to why flies are second only to bees in terms of importance for pollination.

A recent analysis of crop species found that flies visited 72% of the 105 crops studied (bees visited 93%).  In some cases, flies can provide more consistent pollination in early spring than bees, likely because they are often active at cooler temperatures.  (SOURCE:  R. Rader, Cunningham, S.A, Howlett, B.G. and D.W. Inouye. “Non-Bee Insects as Visitors and Pollinators of Crops: Biology, Ecology and Management” Annual Review of Entomology. 65:20.1–20.17  (2020))

Root-maggot fly (Family Anthomyiidae) on onion bloom. Photo Credit: D. J. Martins

Flowers that are typically pollinated by flies are:

• pale and dull to dark brown or purple,
• sometimes flecked with translucent patches,
• characterized with a putrid odor, or
• shallow, but may be funnel-like or complex and trap-like.

The mouth parts of flower flies vary between species, giving different species access to nectar in different shapes of flowers.

The mouth of a typical flower fly is essentially an extendible sponge that can mop up either nectar or pollen that enables them to feed on shallow flowers.

Some species of flower flies have a modified mouth that forms a narrow tube that enables them to feed at tubular flowers.

A bee fly, a good bee mimic. It lays eggs near bee nests and its larvae feed on bee larvae.
Photo Credit: Beatriz Moisset.

When approaching a plant, some flies exhibit a characteristic flight pattern:  they abruptly stop and hover in front or above a flower and can similarly abruptly change their position or direction and resume flight.  This trait is the reason for their common name of hover flies, which are members of the family Syrphidae.  Watch a short video.

Syrphid fly hovering over mustard flowers.
Photo Credit: E. Beers,
http://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/treefruit.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/11121439/OPM_Syrphid04.jpg

Syrphid flies are among the most colorful and conspicuous flies found around flowers.  Of the nearly 900 species in North America, most have yellow-and-black stripes and are excellent mimics of wasps or bees.  While flies lack a stinger, their similar appearance to those that do makes birds and other potential predators avoid them.

The syrphid fly is a bee mimic. Photo Credit: Beatriz Moisset 2002-2004.

Today, take a moment to stop and watch these insects endlessly buzzing about and acknowledge their surprisingly important contribution in pollinating so many plants that we humans rely upon for food.  Please check out Pollinator Week and Pollinator Partnership for brochures, resources, and suggested activities to learn how each of us can help ensure that these important pollinators will forever be part of our world.

If you happen to be enjoying a chocolate as you read this, you may find this post to be a particularly interesting quick read.  Enjoy!

Summer solstice is upon us – welcome to summer!

The summer solstice arrives late Wednesday morning.  With the extended daylight that it brings, this season offers the best opportunity of the year to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

Trailhead entrance – Mohawk Landing Nature Preserve

Observe nature at a local preserve.  Experience the therapeutic benefits of forest bathing.  Listen to the calls and songs of birds in your backyard or go birdwatching elsewhere.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Go fishing or kayaking.  Forage for some wild edibles.  Take a tour of any of the area bike trails.

Photo Credit: http://www.findingradiance.com/2017/08/20/mohawk-hudson-bike-hike-trail/

To celebrate and enjoy all those hours of daylight, we all should consider the opportunity to observe nature in a variety of sunlit settings: dawn, mid-day and twilight. Each will offer unique lighting (great for photography) as well as contrasting opportunities to view wildlife.

Fawn of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Here is a list of a variety of nature-based outings for your consideration.

• Summer Solstice Stroll (1pm on 6/21)
• Karner Blue Butterfly Walk (1:30pm on 6/21)
• Birdwatching at Swatling Falls and Halfmoon Town Park (7am on 6/24)
• Gardening with Native Plants Workshop (10am on 6/24)
• Exploring Columbia County Butterflies Workshop (1pm on 6/24)
• Summer Wildflower Walk #1 @ Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve (1pm on 6/24)
• Eagle Walk (1pm on 6/24)
• Overlooking the Geology (1:30pm on 6/24)
• Forest Bathing (9am on 6/25)
• Buzz of the Pine Bush Bees (10:30am on 6/25)
• Dragonfly Walk (2:30pm on 6/25)
• Lake Bonita Hike (9am on 6/27)
• Tuesday Trek at Dyken Pond Environmental Center (12:30pm on 6/27)
• Karner Blue Butterfly Walk (1:30pm on 6/28)
• Moreau Lake Kayak (9am on 6/29)
• Karner Blue Butterfly Walk (1:30pm on 7/5)
• Summer Wildflower Walk #2 @ Bauer Environmental Park (1pm on 7/8)
• Karner Blue Butterfly Walk (1:30pm on 7/10)
• Karner Blue Butterfly Walk (1:30pm on 7/12)
• Nature Night Out (4pm on 7/12)
• Perseids Meteor Showers (nightly 7/24 through 9/1 with peak overnight on 8/12-13)
• Karner Blue Butterfly Walk (11am on 7/18)
• Karner Blue Butterfly Walk (1:30pm on 7/19)
• Summer Wildflower Walk #3 @ Historic Champlain Canalway Trail (1pm on 7/22)
• Karner Blue Butterfly Walk (1:30pm on 7/26)
• Summer Wildflower Walk #4 @ North Woods Nature Preserve (1pm on 7/29)
• Learn 10 Trees at Ann Lee Pond (9am on 8/5)
• Guided Hike of the Bozen Kill Preserve (10am on 8/5)
• Summer Wildflower Walk #5 @ Hayes Nature Park (1pm on 8/12)
• Perseids Meteor Shower (evenings 7/14-9/1 with peak overnight on 8/12)
• Nature Night Out (4pm on 8/16)
• Summer Wildflower Walk #6 @ Veterans Bike Path (1pm on 8/19)
• Birdwatching at Peebles Island and Cohoes Flats (8:30am on 8/27)
• Moon Light Paddles (To be determined on 8/30)
• Birdwatching at Albany Rural Cemetery (7:30am on 9/2)
• Birdwatching at Hand Hollow Conservation Area (8am on 9/9)
• Picturing Nature: A Practical Guide to Nature Photography (1pm on 9/9)
• Summer Wildflower Walk #7 @ Stillwater Multi-Use Trail (1pm on 9/9)
• Hawk Watching and Songbirds at Thacher State Park (9:30am on 9/16)
• Birdwatching at Saratoga Spa State Park (8am on 9/17)

I have scheduled numerous wildflower walks this year, including some of those listed above.  Please join me.

Enjoy your summer.  Happy trails!

Pollinator Week 2023 – Day 1

The first Pollinator Week was observed in 2007 in America after the Senate’s unanimous approval of a resolution that acknowledged the week as a necessary step in recognizing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.  Unfortunately, around 40% of invertebrate pollinator species, especially bees and butterflies, face the danger of going extinct.  Rising temperatures, scarcity of habitats, and increased human activities threaten the existence of these incredibly important animals.  Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated all over the world in the last full week in June.  The event is organized and conducted in support of pollinator health by the Pollinator Partnership.

The Pollinator Partnership is a nonprofit organization that works to protect the health of managed and native pollinating animals that are vital to wildland and agricultural ecosystems.  Their mission of environmental stewardship and pollinator protection is achieved through conservation, public policy, education, and research.  The Pollinator Partnership was founded as the Coevolution Institute (CoE) in 1997.  Its early mission was to promote research, outreach, and education relating to pollinating species and their floral associations.  Since 1997, the organization has become a leader in pollinator conservation.

The week is observed as an international celebration to protect the ecosystems that sustain all pollinators – be they bees, flies, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies or hummingbirds.

For the first day of this weeklong event, let’s focus on the pollinator that most of us associate with flowering plants – bees.

Pollinator Week poster from 2006, “The Bounty of Bees”
SOURCE: https://www.pollinator.org/shop/posters

Wild bees are often solitary and live in burrows excavated into the ground, in wood or in hollow plant stems.

Digger bees are the most common (54%) type of bees in New York.  These ground-nesting, solitary bees include genera such as Andrena, Lasioglossum, Colletes and Melissodes.  At the start of the nesting season (in the spring, summer or fall, depending on the species), a female digger bee begins constructing burrows in the soil.  At the end of each burrow a brood cell is constructed, which is lined with waterproof secretions.  Once constructed, the female then provides each brood cell with a mixture of pollen and nectar that has been collected from flowering plants in the vicinity of the nest (typically within 1/3 mile) and sculpted into a spherical ball atop of which an egg is laid.  Brood cells range in depth from just a few inches to several feet.  A typical solitary female might produce 10-15 offspring over a period of two to three weeks of active foraging.

Colletes inaequalis female emerging from her nest.
Photo Credit: Margarita López-Uribe.

Some other bees also make nests in preexisting cavities, such as twigs, hollow stems, beetle burrows, or in sites above ground.  These aboveground, cavity nesters include mason bees, wool carder bees and various resin bees.

A bee in the genus Osmia enters its nest in a hollow stem.
Photo Credit: Stefan Niess

Mason bees in New York include genera such as Osmia, Hoplitis, Prochelostoma and Heriades, and, together, they comprise roughly 7% of the species of bees in the state.  Other cavity- and stem-nesting bees include the leaf-cutter bees in the genus Megachile, carder bees in the genus Anthidium, Pseudoanthidium and Paranthidium, and the yellow-faced bees in the genus Hylaeus.  Yellow-faced bees are unusual because they carry pollen internally and not externally, as do most pollen-collecting bees.

Another important group of bees are the carpenter bees, which include the genera Ceratina and Xylocopa.  These bees construct nests in wood or preexisting cavities.  Nests of these bees are typically located in fence posts, wooden park benches and houses and they become conspicuous because males hover in front of them and engage in aggressive territorial battles.

Carpenter bee emerging from fence post.
Photo Credit: https://bestbeebrothers.com/blogs/blog/where-do-carpenter-bees-go-in-the-winter

Cleptoparasitic bees comprise nearly one in four of the bee species in New York and the two largest genera of them include Sphecodes and Nomada.  Parasitic bees have lost the morphological structures associated with nest construction and pollen collection found in most other bees.  Instead of constructing and provisioning their own brood cells, parasitic bees enter the nests of other bees (usually when the host female is away) and lay their eggs within the host nest.  Once the host female has laid her egg and closed the cell, the parasitic larva hatches from its own egg and kills either the host egg or young larva, then feeds on the host’s pollen.

SOURCE: Litman, Jessica R. 2019. Under the radar: detection avoidance in brood parasitic bees.
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 374: 20180196. 20180196. http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0196

The vast majority of the bees mentioned thus far are solitary or parasitic.  Others, known as eusocial bees, include those in which queens and workers are morphologically distinct and others in which queens and workers are distinguishable from each other based only on size or behavior.  The former are referred to as advanced eusocial bees, such as the Western Honey Bee (AKA European Honey Bee) (Apis mellifera), while the latter are referred to as primitive eusocial bees, which include genera such as Augochlorella, Bombus, Halictus and some species of Lasioglossum.  Approximately 19% of the bee species in New York are eusocial.

Co-operative brood rearing, seen here in honeybees, is a condition of eusociality.
Photo Credit: Tenan, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Today, take a moment to stop and admire as well as appreciate these hardworking insects whose daily tireless efforts ensure that so many plants that we humans rely upon for food become pollinated.  Please check out Pollinator Week and Pollinator Partnership for brochures, resources, and suggested activities to learn how each of us can help ensure that these essential pollinators will forever be part of our world.