SNAP

Happy National Pollinator Week! We hope you learned some surprising facts and fun tidbits about pollinators. The last blog post for National Pollinator Week is about how we can all help the pollinators that are so important for healthy ecosystems and for food production. In addition to the list below, please visit Pollinator Partnership for a comprehensive guide. Plants to Help Pollinators Some of the species discussed over the past week are …continue reading

Bumblebees as Pollinators Bumblebees need no introduction. These cute, fuzzy bees are native to North America and are important pollinators for native plants and crops. There are 49 species in North America and all are part of the genus Bombus. Unlike the miner bees from Tuesday’s blog post, bumblebees are social. A queen finds a nest after winter, often underground, and produces a few generations of worker bees over the summer. The …continue reading

©Harvey Schmidt Moths as Pollinators Typically, people love butterflies and dislike the spooky moths that gather around our lights at night. Butterflies and moths are actually part of the same family, Lepidoptera, and moths outnumber butterflies 10 to 1. There are some behavioral and physical differences between the two, like the feathered antennae on moths compared to the club-like antennae found on butterflies. A common misconception is that all moths …continue reading

Bats as Pollinators Bats are important pollinators in desert and tropical climates. Although many species eat insects, there are several bats in the desert southwest that drink nectar including the lesser long-nosed bat and the Mexican long-tongued bat. During the summer, the lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuena) follows blooming flowers into New Mexico and Arizona, while the Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) can be found in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and …continue reading

We’re starting off National Pollinator Week with one of our fuzzy friends, the miner bee, also known as a chimney bee. Miner bees include many species that are part of the family Andrenidae and they are often mistaken for bumble bees. These small-to-medium-sized, fuzzy bees are widespread and–good news– typically do not sting humans. Miner bees are often solitary bees, meaning they don’t belong to a hive, and they like to nest …continue reading