June brings in the “solitary” hunting wasps which have spent the last 10 months in burrows which their mothers dug for them the previous summer. Their life cycles are very similar to the mining bees I have described in a previous entry, with the notable exception of the type of provision they make for their offspring.
The sand wasp is one of the earliest of the solitary hunting wasps to emerge,
normally around the beginning of June. The females of this species have relatively long lives that last well into July.
These wasps emerge around the end of May and spend a few weeks eating nectar, finding mates, and maturing, after which the females settle down to the hard work of being a single mother. (For the males, this is a delirious, festive period, like spring break in Cancun, except they never make it back to class. In the insect world, this is by no means an uncommon fate for the boys of summer.) When fully matured, the females generally dig tunnels in the same area where they were born. This is normally a barren, sunny place also busy with other wasps of the same species nearby doing the exact same thing. These animals are communal, but not social in the way paper wasps are. Each adult is responsible for her own nest entirely.
Not coincidentally, their arrival is timed to coincide with the maturing of the nectar-rich blossoms they require for energy, which they in turn help pollinate, and the maturing of the prey they hunt to provide for their future young. Each type of hunting wasp recognizes only a narrow range of prey species, be it cricket, katydid or caterpillar. You might think of these wasps as the prom queens of pollination: beautiful, athletic, and, without knowing it, ruthless. We will check back in on them in July when the dance is in full, mad swing.
Pollination is not something insects do on purpose. This little Eastern
bumblebee is ensuring the next generation of clover while at her task
of gathering nectar and pollen to feed herself and her growing young.
June is also the happy month that the little Eastern Bumblebees becomes your garden companions, almost like small yellow-and-black puppies. Unlike honeybees, which have armies of people and wheelbarrows full of dollars working on their behalf, bumblebees of all types are in trouble to one degree or another due to habitat loss and chemical interference. Most of their help comes from individuals, who garden with them in mind, together with scattered, small organizations who work on their behalf. Bumblebees are generalists, but it’s easy to find out what flowers they prefer and all kinds of excellent information is available at the link below. Don’t want to read any more? Grow hyssop! Grow salvia! Grow sunflowers! (Who knows, maybe the Tour de France will ride by.)
The wonderfully named Fiery Skipper is just one of the butterflies you
can attract with just a simple, compact garden. Butterflies pick up
pollen on various parts of their anatomy and carry it on to the next
flower they visit.
http://bumblebeeconservation.org/
