It's not yet National Pollinator Week (June 22-28) or the first day of summer (June 21), but it's a good time to visit the UC Davis Ecological Garden, part of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, to see the native bees and other pollinators.
The purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, is a magnet for bees. It's an herbaceous perennial that belongs to the Asteraceae family. The genus name means "spiny one" and the species name, "reddish purple."
During a recent weekend visit to the garden, a female metallic green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, and a longhorn bee, tribe Eucerini, took a liking to the purple coneflower. The green sweat bee is just that: iridescent green. The longhorn bee is just that: its antennae are long.
In our pollinator garden, longhorn bees (primarily Melissodes agilis) absolutely love the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola (an annual and member of Asteraceae). We look forward to seeing the longhorn bees sleeping on the Tithonia, or the behavior that the late Robbin Thorp, UC Davis Distinguished Emeritus Professor, called "The Boys' Night Out." The females return to their nests at night, while the boys gather to sleep on the flowers.
Cover image: Metallic green sweat bee on a purple coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
