SHUTTERBEE

Photos by Shutterbee participant Lisa Saffell (iNaturalist ID: mo_natureseeker)

Our Participant’s Location

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

Alaska wasn't all work for our research scientists! Nicole spent some extra time gallivanting around the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage with her husband. In addition to the incredible scenery, the bumble bees were busy collecting pollen and nectar in preparation for fall. Solitary bees do occur in cold environments, but bumble bees are the most abundant pollinator. They have a special adaptation that allows them to fly when it is cool - they can shiver! They "unhook" their wings from their flight muscles and vibrate their muscles, which creates heat. That is rare among bees, which gives them an edge in these tough environments. #beesaroundtheworld One of our Shutterbee participants, Ronald Goetz, captured a pair of Calliopsis andreniformis mating! The male bee, with the bright yellow face and legs, is on the back of the female bee. The male will stay attached to the female as she flies from flower to flower and will only detach once she returns to her nest. Great shots, Ron! Have you photographed any copulating bees in your garden? Post your pics to share the love! We’re back from the Botanical Society of America meeting! I’ll have more on Alaskan bees later this week, but first, I want to give a shout out to Cheyenne, who rocked her talk on how bee diversity INCREASES with urbanization in St. Louis. Well done, Cheyenne! Stay tuned for more of Josh and Cheyenne’s work! They are going places, y’all @websterucsh alumni #citizenscience #urbanbees #beeconservation #rprogramming @botany.baller Rocked his poster last night at #botany2022! He had a steady stream of people interested in hearing about his work on urban pollinator networks, and received lots of good feedback. Congratulations on a job awesomely done, Josh! Bees that breaks the key! At Shutterbee, we use a series of decision trees to help us identify bees. While these keys work a majority of the time there are some instances when certain bees do not match the given key. For instance, female Bombus bimaculatus otherwise known as the “two spotted bumble bee” can typically be identified by the two yellow spots on its second abdominal segment. The rest of the segments (t3-6) are black. However, the male bees can have much more unique patterns on their abdomen. If you notice a bumble bee with this unique patter, it is most likely a male two-spotted! PC: velnoskymom & cathypotts This week, we got to hang out with the folks at Litzinger Road Ecology Center! The students learned some plant ID and the LREC interns learned how to photograph bees. It’s always a blast hanging out with great people in this ecological oasis! #lrec #botany #bees #funinthefield @urban_ecologist_stl @nmillstrutt The hibiscus bee (Ptilothrix bombiformis) is officially out! They look like a lanky doppelganger of a bumble bee and visit, you guessed it, hibiscus flowers. You can identify this bee by looking at the hair on its abdomen. It looks short and even, like a buzzcut, and is a dull yellow. The legs look a bit elongated, sticking out from the body at a wider angle than a bumble bee’s, and have long hairs on the hind legs but no pollen baskets. They can be difficult to photograph, because they quickly flit down into the hibiscus flower. Be patient at the flower, trigger finger ready, and you just might snag the perfect shot! Falls efforts to “leave the leaves” reap benefits this time of year! Happy #worldfireflyday!!!! Another great Pollinator Week BeeBlitz! Thanks for those able to make it. Plans are another one later this summer, so stay tuned! Here a few actions shots from today