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Posts Tagged: Pollinator Week
Applause for the Pollinators
Bees, butterflies, beetles, birds and bats. What do they have in common? Skipping the alliteration for a moment, they're all pollinators. Honey bees grab the most attention, of course, and they do the bulk of the work. But so do bumble bees and other...
A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, touches down on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The soldier beetle (family Cantharida) is also a pollinator. This insect resembles the uniforms of the British soldiers of the American Revolution. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, and a Western yellowjacket, Vespula penslvanica, sharing a rose. Both are pollinators. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, and a bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, sharing a purple cone flower, Echinacea purpurea. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hello There, Little Leafcutter Bee
Hello there, little leafcutter bee! Yes, you, foraging on the sky-blue Chinese Forget-Me-Nots! You're just in time for National Pollinator Week! Leafcutter bees, family Megachilidae, are so named because the females cut leaves and petals ...
A leafcutter bee, family Megachilidae, peers at the photographer. "Here I am! It's National Pollinator Week." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The leafcutter bee continues foraging on the Chinese-Forget-Me-Nots. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The leafcutter bee ignores the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Okay, I'm leaving now for another blossom." The leafcutter bee is about to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's on the Day's Agenda for This Longhorned Bee?
Hey, the sun's up! It's time to rise and shine! Maybe I'll shine before I rise...or maybe I'll... Anyway, I just woke up, and I'm starting to stir. I'm ready to conquer the day. I shall Sip nectar Seek girlfriend Guard the flower patch by...
After spending the night sleeping on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, a male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, starts to stir. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Day 6 of National Pollinator Week: Meet the Drone Fly
It's Day 6 of National Pollinator Week. Meet the drone fly (Eristalis tenax), often mistaken for a honey bee. The late Robbin Thorp, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, used to jokingly call it "The H Bee," pointing to...
This drone fly (Eristalis tenax) is often mistaken for a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Day 4 of National Pollinator Week: Beetles
When you think of pollinators, you think of bees, right? And well you should: honey bees are the global workhorses of the pollination community and pollinate about one-third of the food we eat, including fruits and vegetables and some nuts,...
The blister beetle is both a pollinator and a pest. It is a pest of alfalfa and is toxic to livestock, especially horses. This one is foraging on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifola) in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Side view of a blister beetle foraging on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifola) in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The blister beetle peers over a petal of a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifola) in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
