Category: bees (Page 15 of 28)

Bug of the Week: Favorite Photographs of 2014

What better way to ring out 2014 than with some photographs of insects?

boxelder-bugs-group

Looking back over the last twelve months, I found I haven’t taken as many photographs of insects as in years past. I did, however, take quite a few of true bugs this year, like these boxelder bugs.

milkweed-bugs

Not the best shot, but I thought these milkweed bugs were amusing.

 

orange-fly-on-nasturtium-closer

Maybe it was color that caught my eye, as with this orange on orange composition.

covered-with-pollen-bee

Bees are always fun, although they are usually in motion. Check out this leafcutter bee collecting pollen.

bee-with-pollen-full

She has filled her scopa (hairs on the underside of the abdomen)!

bee-in-cactus-flower-close

This one is reminding us that bees feed on nectar as well as collect pollen.

parasitoid-wasp-crop

Parasitic wasps can be colorful.

wasp-for-list

Paper wasps sometimes take a break to do some cleaning.

ladybug-in-queen-annes-lace

What year is complete without a ladybug?

paper-kite-Idea-leuconoe-111

But the butterflies always give the brightest displays. This is a paper kite.

White Peacock Anartia jatrophae

Here is a white peacock catching some rays.

best-monarch-yet

You can get some beautiful close-ups in butterfly exhibits.

glorious-sulfur

The unexpected shots in your own back yard, however, are always the most treasured.

Do you have a post of your favorite nature photographs, too? Feel free to leave a link in the comments.

Happy New Year!

 

 

Bug of the Week: Bumble Bee Identification and Citizen Science

While much of North America has had cold and snow, here it was warm enough that some local bumble bees were collecting pollen and nectar from desert mallow flowers. Unfortunately the bees were landing and leaving so fast that I wasn’t able to get a photograph, so this one from the East Coast will have to do.

weigela-bumble-bee-6

What can you do while it is too cold to do much insect watching? It is a perfect time to pull out the field guides and learn more about a group that is interesting to you.

Bumble Bee Identification

Take for example the bumble bees. They are important pollinators and easy to spot because of their large size.

If you are interested in learning more about the different types of bumble bees in your area, the USDA Forest Service and The Pollinator Partnership recently have created two identification guides for bumble bees: Bumble Bees of the Eastern United States by Sheila Colla, Leif Richardson and Paul Williams and Bumble Bees of the Western United States by Jonathan Koch, James Strange and Paul Williams

The two guides can be downloaded as free .pdfs at The Xerces Society (scroll to bottom of page).

(There are free downloadable bumble bee posters at the USDA Forest Service, too -scroll down.)

thistle-bumble-bee-123

Looking through the Bumble Bees of the Eastern United States guide, I believe the bumble bee above on the thistle flower is Bombus impatiens, the common eastern bumble bee.

Ready to take your studies to a new level? Try a citizen science project.

Bumble Bee Citizen Science Opportunities

1. Bumble Bee Watch Citizen Science

This group is looking for individuals interested in taking photographs of their local bumble bees and uploading the photographs to the Bumble Bee Watch website.  Once you have uploaded your photos, experts will verify the identity the bumble bees for you. The website also has tips for what you can do to help conserve bumble bees, like grow a pollinator garden.

2. Bumble Boosters

Based at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, this project involves testing designs for artificial bumble bee nest boxes and also tracking bumble bee queens, again via photographs.

If you decide to participate in one of these projects, or if you know of other bumble bee citizen science projects, be sure to let us know!

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