Tag: honey bee (Page 1 of 4)

Favorite Insect Photographs of 2021

This is the time to look back at the highlights of the past year and look forward to upcoming adventures. In that vein, here are some of my favorite insect photographs from 2021.

Butterflies like this hairstreak are always such prima donnas.

 

 

Okay, so my favorites aren’t all photographs. These queen butterflies tell off the intruder by flapping their wings.

 

Roses always look even more lovely with a katydid decoration.

 

My neighbor was so excited when the praying mantis egg cases she had purchased began hatching that she called me over to watch. It was pretty amazing to see all the little nymphs. Later I found this one in our yard.

 

Yep, another video. In this one I caught a honey bee using her legs to pat pollen into her already pretty full pollen baskets. The plant is jojoba.

 

I took this photograph on January 14, 2021, which seems pretty early in the season for bees. Maybe the early bee gets the pollen?

Hope you enjoyed these. Thank you so much for following Growing with Science in 2021. I really appreciate everyone who took time to comment and for your support.

Happy New Year!

 

 

Saguaros Flowering in September?

I’ve been stalking a neighbor’s saguaro this week because it is flowering.

For those of you who don’t see these giant cacti every day, saguaros usually flower in June, not September.

The flowers usually open at night, but these are staying open well into the morning, which makes them accessible to day-active pollinators like these honey bees and the carpenter bee on the right.

With all the buds, looks like they’ll be enjoying flowers for a few more days at least.

Have you seen any flowers or bees this week?

Bug of the Week: Answer to the Pollinator Quiz

No one was fooled by the mystery pollinator last week.

Although it looks like honey bee, it is actually a flower fly.

This is a honey bee.

The flower fly is a honey bee mimic. If you look closely, the real honey bee has longer antennae, and has four wings rather than two.

Honey bees also have large flattened areas on their hind legs called pollen baskets.

Another difference is that honey bees collect and carry pollen on purpose, whereas flower flies feed on nectar and are accidental pollen carriers.

Regardless, they are both fun to watch!

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