Pollinator Posts by May Chen

There’s a golden flash on an umbel of spent Fennel flowers.  I am looking at the iridescent abdomen of a female Jumping Spider, Sassacus vitis (family Salticidae).  Sassacus vitis is native to North America, with a range

I pause at this stretch of the trail that features vibrant plantings of Perez’s Sea Lavender.   A small Digger Bee, Anthophora (Micranthophora) sp. (family Apidae) is foraging on an inflorescence of Perez’s Sea Lavender.   The

In anticipation of the forecast heat, I get to Bay Farm earlier than usual today.   A dew drop still clings to a colorful nymph of the Southern Green Stink Bug.  It is a later

A California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi peeks from the boulders of Shoreline Park at Bay Farm Island.  I toss it a few pieces of shelled walnuts from my pocket.  The squirrel immediately scurries over to pick

A small black wasp is flitting about on the sandy ground along the dirt path I walk at Bay Farm Island.  Everything about it is black, including its wings.  Its oversized, blockish head tells me

Emil leads us on a narrow sandy path that winds through salt grass, pickleweed, Jaumea, and Frankenia, strewn with beach wrack of rotting algae.  He spots a mating pair of Tiger Beetles, and immediately gets

Naomi takes me to her backyard to show me an Anise Swallowtail chrysalis.  She proudly points to the plant debris at the base of a robust Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare.  Do you see the chrysalis?  It takes

Naomi, Emil and I start our “bugging” adventure on the north eastern part of Bay Farm Island near the bridge.  This is where Emil and I have observed nesting activities of Sand Wasps and Summer

I have come to Alameda to pick Naomi up for our “bugging” adventure with Emil this afternoon.  Naomi has reported seeing 24 male Longhorn Bees, Melissodes sp. (family Apidae) sleeping in aggregation on the Elegant

For those who wrote me, thank you for your inquiries and well wishes.  My husband Fred is recovering well from his spinal surgery, and has been coming out with me to Bay Farm Island occasionally

Given the unhealthy air quality and a forecast of high temperatures, I am bound for the hills again this morning.  Maybe this will give me another opportunity to check out the Yellowjacket activity on the

I head up the Berkeley hills for the cooler temperatures and cleaner air this morning.  What better place to see insects this time of year than the Regional Parks Botanic Gardens?  The garden is well

In the low light of early morning, I find this stocky bee asleep on a flowerhead of Elegant Tarweed, Madia elegans in my garden, in the company of a Scentless Plant Bug (family Rhopalidae).  I

I make a 10-minute stop at the small parking strip in Alameda to check on the bees on this cool and cloudy morning.   10:36 am.  Several male Summer Longhorn Bees, Melissodes sp. (family Apidae)

I am a little late getting to the parking strip in Alameda this morning.   At 9:20 am the male Summer Longhorn Bees are just about waking up on the seed heads of the Elegant

Brush clearing for fire safety has apparently started early this year.  I arrive at Siesta Gate this morning to find that all the California Phacelia, Phacelia californica along the sides of the paved road have

Leaving Alameda, I head for the cool sanctuary of the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park.   To my disappointment, neither of the two Pale Swallowtail caterpillars are on their Coffeeberry today.  There are so many wasps

Early this morning I make a run for the parking strip in Alameda to check on the bees before the sun breaks through the clouds.   Only one Suave Nomad Bee, Nomada suavis (family Apidae)

A European Paper Wasp, Polistes dominula (family Vespidae) is hunting among the spent flowers of Autumn Sage “Lemon Light”, Salvia gregii. Native to Europe, the European Paper Wasp, Polistes dominula, is a social insect that produces an annual colony

Taking advantage of this morning’s cool, overcast conditions, I make a dash for the parking strip in front of Naomi’s neighbor’s house in Alameda.  Surely the Longhorn boys are still sleeping? Arriving at 8:30 am,

Susan and I are excited to visit Stefanie’s lovely garden in San Leandro this morning.  The garden is still colorful with late-blooming plants, and abuzz with insects.  A small wasp is foraging on an inflorescence

From my past experience with male Summer Longhorn Bees, Melissodes sp. (family Apidae), I know that they gather to sleep in aggregation at around 5 pm in the summer.  At 7 pm on this fine

When Naomi joins me on the parking strip, she points out two small black-and-yellow, wasp-like insects clinging to a stem of a withered Elegant Tarweed, just inches off the ground.   She has discovered them