Pollinator Posts by May Chen

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

Naomi, a friend and professional gardener told me of some interesting bee activities in the parking strip in front of her neighbor’s garden that she has helped plant with California natives.   I arrive early,

Something is glinting silver on a leaf of Arroyo Willow, Salix lasiolepis.  Here’s another leaf on the same plant with similar sinuous tunnels that reflect silver in the sunlight.  I wonder which leaf-miner made these

I am back at the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park in the Oakland hills for the third day in a row during this intense heat wave. The body of a tiny Metallic Sweat Bee, Lasioglossum (Dialictus)

Since most other parks in the East Bay hills are closed due to heat and fire danger, I decide to return for a morning walk at the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park.  This gives me the

As temperatures are forecast to go beyond 90 F today, the coolness of a redwood forest beckons to me. I am grateful that although most of the east bay parks are closed due to fire

I visit a neighbor’s garden this morning.  Although I have been passing his house in the car for years, I haven’t realized what a gem of a garden it has.   About half of Tim’s

A large Hairy Gumweed, Grindelia hirsutula by the curb on the side of the house is in peak bloom.  A male Western Leafcutter Bee, Megachile perihirta visits one of the fresh flowerheads.   As the

I am excited to visit Anni and Carol’s home garden in Richmond again today!  Because they are home, I get to meet the gracious owners and explore their backyard as well.   A Common Checkered Skipper, Burnsius

As I walk Skyline Trail south of Siesta Gate this morning, I notice how dry and dusty the trail has become.  The grasses are a parched brown now.  My only hope of seeing insects are