If you have a patch of salvia (sage) growing in your yard, watch for the nectar robbers.

Carpenter bees are among the insects that engage in nectar robbing. They drill a hole in the corolla of the flower, circumventing the usual plant-pollinator relationship. In other words, they're  “cheating” pollination by "stealing" the nectar. Scientists call this "robbing the nectar."

The most prevalent nectar robbers in our yard are the mountain carpenter bees, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex. They're better at drilling holes than the Texas oilmen.

If you watch closely, you may see a honey bee following the carpenter bee around. She's taking the easy way out, finding the hole pierced by the carpenter bee and then gathering nectar to take back to her colony. 

If a flower could communicate, it would probably say something like "Hey, you're doing an end run to get my nectar. Please don't use the side entrance--I have a front door."

You don't have to be a citizen to be a "citizen scientist," and you don't have to be a scientist to be a citizen.

But "citizen scientist" is a catchy term, all the same. Basically, it's the public engagement in scientific research activities.

“Citizen Science is a powerful tool that scientists can use to harness the power of the public,” says entomologist Andrea Lucky. "Public participation in science offers both scientific and educational benefits, including the possibility of massive and openly accessible data. This approach holds the promise of a new way of doing science and a new way of learning science, but also poses challenges of organization, quality control and funding.  Two projects, the School of Ants and Backyard Bark Beetles were developed to address the main concerns with Citizen Science projects, and demonstrate how modern public participation in science can be an effective tool for teaching science and investigating topics including, but not limited to biodiversity, invasive species, population genetics, and systematics.” (Read what Entomology Today says about citizen science and Andrea Lucky's role. Also check out her citizen science projects on her website.)

Lucky, an assistant research scientist with the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida--she received her doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, working with major professor/ant specialist Phil Ward--will speak on  "From Pavement Ants to Population Genetics: Citizen Science Today and Tomorrow" on Wednesday, May 28 at a seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Her talk, from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall, off Kleiber Hall Drive, is scheduled to be recorded for later viewing on UCTV.

 A native of Chicago, Andrea Lucky grew up in Cincinnati, graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island,  and then spent two years as a Fulbright scholar studying insects in Ecuador. Her insect talks are numerous. She was an invited speaker at the 2012 International Congress of Entomology, Daegu, South Korea, Aug 2012. She has also presented her work at the Entomological Society of America (ESA), and Pacific Branch of ESA and has taught numerous classes, seminars and workshops. At UC Davis, she designed a course on “Insects and the Media,” which she taught in the spring of 2006 and the fall of 2008. In 2009, she won a UC Davis outstanding graduate student teaching award, presented to her by the chancellor.

One of her goals is to "make science accessible and available to the general public, particularly to make the process of 'doing' science accessible to non-scientists."

A noble and worthwhile goal, indeed.

It's all about knowing the biodiversity in Knowland Park.

And trying to save it from development.

Scientists and citizen-scientists will gather Sunday, June 1 in the western highlands of the Oakland park to conduct a "bioblitz"--or a tally of the biodiversity of animals and plants living there.

"The Oakland Zoo is planning to bulldoze and build upon 56 acres of the most sensitive habitat, which will demolish pristine stands of maritime chaparral and native grasses, destroy over 50 mature trees including heritage oaks, and fence out wildlife that depends on this land to survive," said Constance Taylor of www.wildoakland.org  in a news release issued today.

"Rare maritime chaparral and native grasslands alongside coastal scrub and oak woodlands comprise interconnected ecosystems with spectacular diversity: Hundreds of species of lichen, moss, and fungi (including a 100+ year-old giant puffball “fairy ring”), fields of wildflowers and many other California native plants, from ground cover to shrubs and trees," she said.

"These habitats sustain a multitude of wildlife species—insects, reptiles (including the federal and state protected Alameda whipsnake), resident and migratory birds, and an array of mammals—from the lowly dusky-footed woodrat (a California Species of Special Concern) to the top of the food chain, our native mountain lion."

The event, open to people of all ages and skills, will begin at 9 a.m. with registration at the Cameron Avenue entrance, a cul-de-sac off of Malcom Avenue that dead-ends at the park. The bioblitz will take place from 9:15 to noon, and a wrap-up session is set from noon to 1:30. See website for more information and to sign-up.

And insects? "Yes, we are definitely looking for bugs," said bioblitz leader/entomologist Eddie Dunbar, founder and president of the Insect Sciences Museum of California  (ISMC). "The same evening we will be sheetlighting for nightflying insects. Moths will be out, of course. However, it has been suggested that there may be a vernal kind of riparian area. If so, we want to see what aquatics we can attract. Also, there would be sampling during the day for aquatics, if they are there. During the day we will sweep, beat, poot, and check underneath ground debris for insects. We want to make a case that this area deserves protection."

One of ISMC's many activities is to conduct surveys of Northern California insect ecosystems. Clients participate in field surveys, learning contemporary science techniques and using authentic science equipment. Survey findings are published into regionally specific web guides, searchable photographic databases, and geographically relevant science learning aids. Learning aids are developed, distributed and modeled by ISMC staff.

Entomology graduate and undergraduate students and enthusiasts at the University of California, Davis, are expected to be among those participating. Dunbar hopes that the participants will find many insects, including native bees. Anyone interested in helping out can email Eddie Dunbar at eddie@bugpeople.org.

Further information:
Learn more about Knowland Park and the proposed zoo expansion at www.saveknowland.org

 

Don't you just love watching bumble bees?

This morning we watched a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) foraging on lavender. It moved quickly from one blossom to another, barely allowing us time for a "bee shoot." It was "bee gone" every time we aimed the camera.

Finally, it cooperated.

Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, identified it as a male, the first (photo of a male Bombus vosnesenskii) he's seen this season.

He thinks a prize is in order. 

Well, okay!

Thorp, co-author of the newly published Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (Princeton Press), and Davis photographers Gary Zamzow and Allan Jones and yours truly usually have a friendly competition to find and photograph the first bumble bee of the year, of the month, of the day, of the minute. Well, almost.  It's "Bumble Bee Alert" a lot.  On Christmas Day, I managed to capture an image of a black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, foraging on jade blossoms at the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park, Solano County. (The black-tailed bumble bees emerge much earlier than the yellow-faced bumble bees.)

Now a Bumble Bee Watch group has launched a website to track bumble bee populations across the U.S. and Canada. This is a collaborative effort among several conservation groups and universities, according to the website and they need your sightings, including photos.  As a spokesperson said: "The information will help researchers determine the status and conservation needs of bumble bees, and help locate rare or endangered populations. They will also help with identification!"

Well, today, I watched one male Bombus vosnesenskii, and he watched me.

My prize? Just enjoying--and appreciating--nature at its finest.  

(Note: How can you distinguish a male from a female Bombus vosnesenskii? Said Robbin Thorp: "Boy bumble bees have an one more segment in the antenna and the abdomen than females do.  The tip of the abdomen is also more rounded.  Male bees do not have any pollen transport structures.  In bumble bees, this means that the hind tibia is much more slender than in females which have corbiculae (pollen baskets).  In Bombus vosnesenskii there is a second partial yellow band on the abdomen on T-5."

"The most accurate test of female vs male bumble bees, is to pick up a specimen with a bare hand.  If you get stung, it is a female, if not, it is a boy bee.  Boy bees can't sting, because they have no stinger.  But I do not recommend this test unless you already know the answer! :)"