Pollinator Posts by May Chen

A few Yellow-faced Bumble Bees are flying around the newly open Soap Plant flowers, occasionally landing to take nectar. Check out that long tongue!  It is soaking up the nectar at the base of the

Ooh, I can actually see a Painted Lady caterpillar, Vanessa cardui (family Nymphalidae) in its wispy silk nest on this Cobweb Thistle, Cirsium occidentale.   Several older nests on this plant have been previously predated.

A Comb-clawed Beetle (subfamily Alleculinae, family Tenebrionidae) is moving around on a blooming California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana. Comb-clawed Beetles (subfamily Alleculinae, family Tenebrionidae) are known for the comblike appearance of their claws (hind tarsi).  Their

What difference a day makes!  I arrive as Siesta Gate at 10 am to find it still shrouded in fog.  More of the Tarweeds are in bloom today.   To avoid being mired with the

A new Fruit Fly (family Tephritidae) on Coyote Brush!  The pattern on its picture wings are so busy it is hard to discern.  I snap a series of pictures as it moves around on the

I arrive early at Siesta Gate, just as the fog has lifted and the Elegant Tarweed, Madia elegans flowerheads are still open.  The species has apparently held its own in this little patch that it

An adult female Pacific Coast Tick, Dermacentor occidentalis (Ixodidae) is resting on the tip of a California Mugwort leaf, Artemisia douglasiana. This species is widely distributed throughout California.  The immature stages feed on rodents, especially squirrels,

There’s an air of excitement at a small hole at the edge of the trail.  Some Field Ants, Formica subpolita (family Formica) are gathered at the entrance to their nest.  I look just in time to see

Hoping for a cooler walk on this warm morning, I start early at 8:30 am and head south on Skyline Trail from Siesta Gate.  What a delight to see Farewell-to-Spring, Clarkia rubicunda in bloom!   Seeing the

A female parasitoid wasp has landed on an inflorescence of California Phacelia, Phacelia californica.  It is an old individual with frayed wings and a split ovipositor sheath (first I have ever seen).   It is

To avoid the excessive heat this afternoon, I choose to explore the shadier northern section of Skyline Trail.  Swarms of tiny insects hover over the California Phacelia, Phacelia californica at the Steam Train entrance.  Easily

Near Siesta Gate I come across an unusual sight – a bumble bee foraging on the flowers of Sticky Monkeyflowers, Diplacus aurantiacus.  I have only  observed this behavior once last year.  The floral tube of

It is about 4:30 pm when I reach the Soap Plants that are just beginning to bloom, attracting a swarm of Dance Flies.   Dance Fly swarm over blooming Soap Plant in late afternoon. –

In the early afternoon at Siesta Gate, an unfamiliar hover fly is hovering over the California Phacelia flowers, Phacelia californica.  A new species for the garden? A Syrphid expert on iNaturalist has helped identify it

It’s almost 4 pm when I am done walking the paved road at Siesta Gate.  While there’s still day light, I decide to swing over to the Steam Train entrance to check on the evening

I return to the stand of Soap Plants to find a menagerie of characters has gathered.  Here, a Root-Maggot Fly (family Anthomyiidae) is perched on a cluster of flower buds.   Members of the family

Ooh, I can recognize that square-headed black wasp now – it is an Aphid Wasp, Pomphredon sp. (family Crabronidae).  It is in the same patch of California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana where I first saw it

This afternoon I decide to walk the section of Skyline Trail south of Siesta Gate.  There are the usual hover flies foraging on the Golden Yarrow, Eriophyllum confertiflorum. This one is a female Diamond Spottail,

At Siesta Nose, the Naked Buckwheat, Eriogonum nudum is in bud, ready to break into bloom.  The iridescent blue beetles are already on the plants!  There was a big outbreak of these Flea Beetles, Altica

Ooh, all the berries on the Osoberry, Oemleria cerasiformis have fully ripened! The 1/2 inch fruit of Osoberry, numbering up to 5 per flower, start out tan to pale orange, transition through pink to reddish purple, then

A black beetle is resting motionless between the flowers of California Phacelia, Phacelia californica.  Not wanting to disturb the beetle, I tag the plant with a piece of red yarn.  I’ll check on the beetle

The Painted Lady caterpillars on the Cobweb Thistles are not faring well.  Most of their nests on the leaves have been breached.  The silk webbings have been torn open, and the caterpillars are missing.  

  A tiny beetle seems to be scavenging for pollen on a Sticky Monkeyflower, Diplacus aurantiacus. A Soft-wing Flower Beetle (family Melyridae, subfamily Dasytinae)? Dasytinae is a subfamily of Soft-wing Flower Beetles (family Melyridae), historically

Most of the small insects visiting the Sticky Monkeyflowers, Diplacus aurantiacus today are the Masked Bees, Hylaeus sp. (family Colletidae).   These were hardly seen earlier in cooler weather.   Hylaeus (family Colletidae) are shiny, slender,