Native Pollinators Part 2: The Pioneers of April

Huge grains of pine pollen cover everything for awhile in April.

The Lynnhaven watershed occupies a fortunate location where extremes of weather are rare and generally short, and flora and fauna of all varieties can count on the same conditions month in and month out, nearly every year. However, those species which emerge at the spring seasonal margin must be hardy in order to survive April’s weather fluctuations. The earliest-emerging native bees, for instance, have fur coats, reserves of stored energy and live in protective shelters. But generally speaking, by April, nature starts opening the grocery store and the wild rush of seasonal shopping gets under way.

Delicate shadbush (or Serviceberry) blossoms provide brief sustenance for pollinators such as hover flies.

Things move along quickly in April as the days lengthen and the earth warms. I kept a thumbnail list of what I saw as it appeared. So on April 1st I noticed the buds in the very tops of trees were beginning to color and quicken; on the 2nd a carpenter bee noisily inspected me; on the 3rd, a paper wasp prowled our garden; on the 5th a Prothonotary warbler, an Eastern bumblebee, and a very early, very tiny butterfly; on the 6th the first of the fleeting Shadbush blooms; on the 10th “our” Five-lined skink, a big female, came out to lounge and sun herself on the front porch; on the 15th the exotic Sweetleaf blossoms began to open and bumblebees showed up to notice; and on the 17th I saw the first dragonflies, dining on insects too small to see, as well as an early Swallowtail butterfly. 

Of course all this activity depends on the food web and that web has as its foundation the emerging stems, leaves and flowers of native plants. With rare exception, native pollinators are not attracted to non-native species. 

Though non-native, dandelions sustain a variety of insects during the chilly months, especially in suburban areas.  Here we see a pollen-laden Andrena mining-bee moving to another blossom.

By and large, April is the province of the furry bees, such as mason bees, mining bees and bumble and carpenter bees, but they have vast armies of help in the pollinating work they do. Jewel-like Syrphid flies, known collectively by names like “flower flies” and “hover flies,” begin their emergence. Paper wasps that survived the winter as adults try to find mates and begin to forage for nectar while beginning their work as master builders. There are also many types of beetles and bugs that contribute to the pollination. Almost all of these animals become active on any day the temperature reaches 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but all have strategies to cope with the variability of the April weather.

The beautiful blossoms of the Eastern Redbud attract bumblebees and other pollinators.

Some of these individuals, notably the mining bees, will spend only 6 to 8 weeks as free-roaming, working adults. Others, like the large and durable carpenter, have relatively long lives lasting for months. Collectively, these are the animals that show up when the weather is often bad, the work is difficult and life is dangerous. You have to be tough and resourceful to be an April insect.

Among the many dangers pollinators face is the presence of predators, such as this assassin bug seen here on a Common Sweetleaf bud.

Guest writer: Robert Brown, LRNow Stewardship and Access Committee

Native Pollinators, Part 1

"Charismatic mini-fauna"

It’s likely that most people reading this are familiar with the conservation issues related to the European Honeybee and the Monarch Butterfly, animals I refer to as “charismatic mini-fauna.”  Of course the honeybee is economically important to the pollination of numerous food crops as well as its honey production, and the monarchs are the bright, lilting ballet stars of summer gardens that fly thousands of miles to winter in Mexico.  These characteristics endow them with popularity and publicity, but they are not alone in the pressures they face to survive the chemically dangerous, habitat-poor environment of 2015 and beyond. Invertebrates of all types, from wasps to snails, face enormous challenges which they have no power to control. Lynnhaven River NOW was created to help restore the habitat of a very charismatic and tasty invertebrate, the Lynnhaven Oyster.  From this single idea arose an amazing web of activities that benefit animals and plants of all types throughout the watershed.

Some plants, such as pine trees, are able to pollinate using only the wind, as your soon-to-be-yellow car will attest, but the majority of plants need an agent to fill this role.  Native pollinators of all types, principally bees, wasps, beetles, flies, moths and butterflies, carry out this work in a bewildering variety of ways.  Some are specific to a single plant, some are attracted to certain plant families, and some are generalists.  Many emerge in timing with their host plant’s blooming, and live brief adult lives, while some carry on for months, even overwintering in a torpid state to start the next generation the following spring.

Mining bees (Andrena sp.) are an interesting example of pollinators timing their emergence to coincide with the arrival of the blossoms they help pollinate. Some species of these bees,
beginning in the erratic weather of late February and early March, tunnel their way out of the sandy nesting burrows dug and provisioned by their mothers the previous year, and fly up into the trees to find mates, dine and do their pollinating work.  Like most of the “solitary” bees and wasps, the life cycle of the mining bee is interesting, but obscured by the fact that up to 11 months of it are spent in burrows of different sorts.  Most people hardly know of their existence, much less how important they are.  

Buzz About Bees

It is possible, however, for you to meet many of these charming and interesting characters face to face right in your own yard.  By planting native flowering plants and herbs such as oregano and thyme and paying just a little bit of attention, you will be surprised at the new neighbors who show up for dinner.  Laney and I live in a condo, but we have managed to
create a (mostly small container) garden that attracts and supports many species of beautiful little animals.  Because of the relative environmental stability of where we live, we know that the bumblebees that visit us this summer are the offspring of the ones that visited us last summer.  That we are sustaining generation after generation is a delightful thing to think about when they start to reappear.

So just say no to impatiens!  And pesticide.  By planting natives and herbs, you will be helping in the conservation of these wonderful, colorful, and vitally important creatures.

Here are some good resources to help get you started:

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation/

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Guest writer: Robert Brown, LRNow Stewardship and Access Committee