Seen any European wool carder bees lately?

European wool carder bees (so named because the female collects or cards plant hairs for their nests) are on the move. 

The bees, about the size of honey bees, are mostly black and yellow. The females range in body length from 11 to 13 millimeters, while the males are 14 to 17 mm. 

The males are known for being very territorial. They body-slam other insects to protect their turf, per chance to mate with the females.

The European wool carder bees, Anthidium manicatum, are natives of Europe. Their "immigrant ancestor" was first detected in the United States (New York) in 1963, and the species then began spreading west. The bees were first recorded in California (Sunnyvale) in 2007.

The species, according to research entomologist Tom Zavortink of the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis, was  accidentally introduced into New York state.  They were not purposefully introduced to pollinate alfalfa, as some reports allege, he said.

Writing in a 2008 edition of the Pan-Pacific Entomologist, Zavortink and fellow entomologist Sandra Shanks, now of Port Townsend, Wash., pointed out that several papers “have documented its spread from neighboring areas in the northeastern United States and southern Canada” and that the species has since crossed the country. It was confirmed in Colorado in 2005, Missouri in 2006, and Maine, Michigan, Maryland and California (Sunnyvale) in 2007, the entomologists wrote. Records show it was first collected in Davis on July 26, 2007.

It was well established in the Central Valley by 2008, according to Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology.

We first encountered the European wool carder bee in Vacaville, Solano County, in the spring of 2010. Its plant preferences include lamb's ear (Stachys byzantine, in the mint family Lamiaceae), a perennial grown for its fuzzy, silvery gray-green foliage. It's also been collected in the figwort/snapdragon family (Scrophulariacae) and the pea and bean family (Fabaceae), according to the Zavortink-Shanks research.

In our pollinator garden, they seem to prefer foxgloves, lamb's ear, catmint and lavender. Yes, in that order...

They marveled at the tadpole shrimp.

They crafted tadpole shrimp-themed hats and puppets using paper plates and googly eyes.

And they asked questions. Lots of questions.

It was all part of the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, themed "Bugs in Ag: What Is Eating Our Crops and What Is Eating Them?" The event, held May 28 and free and open to the public, drew dozens of visitors ranging from toddlers to senior citizens. 

Cooperative Extension specialist Ian Grettenberger, an agricultural entomologist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, and postdoctoral fellow Buddhi Achhami of the Grettenberger lab displayed pests of rice and alfalfa--as well as beneficial insects--and fielded questions. Bohart Museum volunteer and undergraduate student Omri Livneh assisted.

Grettenberger noted that Triops longicaudatus is an early-season pest of rice that damages germinating seeds. Tadpole shrimp look superficially like tadpoles (frogs), he said. They are omniverous, meaning they eat plant material, invertebrates and "even their siblings (cannibalism)." The eggs can survive for many years in a desiccated state, and  hatch when rice fields are flooded.

The Grettenberger lab showed KQED's Deep Look video, Tadpole Shrimp Are Coming For Your Rice. which includes Grettenberger's expertise.

"People enjoyed the event and learned about rice and agricultural pests, thanks to the Grettenberger lab special displays," commented Tabatha Yang, Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator who organized the event.   She credited UC Davis doctoral student Grace Horne of the Emily Meineke lab with loaning additional USB scopes.

Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection, showcased butterfly and moth specimens, including Atlas moths and monarchs. He marveled at the knowledge of "budding scientist" 6-year-old Riley Laurel of Vacaville, who arrived with her father, Julius, and brother, Aidan, 2. It was their first visit to the Bohart Museum.

Bohart lab assistant Brennen Dyer and Bohart volunteer Allen Chew, a UC Davis student and artist, encouraged folks to get acquainted with Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects (walking sticks), both part of the live "petting zoo." 

Bohart volunteer Barbara Heinsch, UC Davis graduate and environmental scientist and Chew staffed the arts and crafts table. Ellie Lindquist, 4, of Woodland and Kelsey Meng, 5, of Davis expressed delight in making tadpole shrimp-themed creations.

The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens; the petting zoo; and a year-around gift shop (also online), stocked with insect-themed gifts, such as t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, posters, jewelry, books, puppets, candy and collecting equipment. It is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane.

The next open houses are scheduled June 25 and July 16. Like all of the Bohart Museum open houses, they are free and open to the public. 

• Saturday, June 25,  1 to 4 p.m.
  "8-Legged Wonders" 
  This open house is all about arachnids (think spiders) and will feature scientists from across the country. It is being held in collaboration with the American Arachnological Society's 2022 meeting, June 26-30m on the UC Davis campus and hosted by Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and Joel Ledford, assistant professor of teaching, Department of Plant Biology, College of Biological Sciences. Arachnids also will be discussed at a public session on Tuesday, June 28, from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in California Hall. 
  
  
• Saturday, July 16, 1 to 4 p.m.
  "Celebrating 50 years of the Dogface Butterfly: California's State Insect"
  Scientists will join the public in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the California State Legislature' designation of the dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice, as the state insect. Found only in California, the butterfly thrives in the 40-acre Shutamul Bear River Preserve near Auburn, Placer County.  The  preserve is part of the Placer Land Trust and is closed to the public except for specially arranged tours. At the July 16th open house, Folsom Lake College professor and Bohart scientist Fran Keller, and Bohart associate Greg Karofelas, a volunteer docent for the Placer Land Trust's dogface butterfly tours, will discuss the butterfly.  Keller, who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, authored the 35-page children's book, The Story of the Dogface Butterfly (with photos by Keller and Kareofelas, and illustrations by former UC Davis student Laine Bauer.)  Kareofelas and Keller also teamed to create a dogface butterfly poster of the male and female.  Both the book and the poster are available online from the the Bohart Museum of Entomology gift shop. (Read more on how the butterfly became the state insect under the Ronald Reagan administration.) 

There's a way for a bear to outsmart a fox.

A teddy bear bee, that is. 

We just witnessed a male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa sonorina, aka "the teddy bear bee," buzz up to a patch of  foxgloves, Digitalis purpurea. 

Then he engaged in the foraging behavior known as nectar-robbing. That's when a carpenter bee or bumble bee drills a hole at the base of the corolla--or finds a hole already drilled--and "robs" the nectar, bypassing the flower's reproductive parts that lead to pollination. 

Hey, I'm not going through the front door! I'm not! I'm taking the back door.

We usually see female Valley carpenter bees drilling the holes and robbing the nectar. This time, though, it was a male. The late Robbin Thorp, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, always referred to the males as "teddy bear bees," adding "boy bees don't sting."

This particular teddy bear lingered a bit, sipped some nectar, and then took flight.

That's how a "bear" outsmarts a fox.

By the way, sexual dimorphism is pronounced in X. sonorina.  The male is a green-eyed blond, while the females are solid black.

In our garden, other plants popular for nectar robbing include the salvias, ‘Hot Lips' Sage (Salvia ‘Hot Lips'),  and California fuchsia (Epilobium canum). Sometimes you'll see a honey bee following a carpenter bee or bumble bee around to gain easy access to the nectar. She "knows the drill." 

Scientists have known about nectar-robbing for more than two centuries. German naturalist Christian Konrad Sprengel observed bumble bees perforating the corollas of flowers as early as 1793, according to Wikipedia. Sprengel recorded this  phenomenon in his book, The Secret of Nature in the Form and Fertilization of Flowers Discovered.  Charles Darwin observed nectar robbing (by bumble bees) in 1859 and published his observations in his book The Origin of Species.