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Bye, Bye 2012
The last honey bee of 2012.
Despite the cold weather at Bodega Bay last Friday, we managed to see a few honey bees nectaring a New Zealand tea tree, aka Leptospermum scoparium.
The temperature registered 53 degrees and there they were, foraging among the dainty pink and white blossoms, as if it were spring.
As the year draws to a close, we've been inundated with words like "fiscal cliff," "spoiler alert," "bucket list" and "YOLO." (No, Yolo doesn't mean Yolo County but "You Only Live Once.")
Let's hope those words don't apply to honey bees in 2013 and the years beyond.
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Kissin' Cousins
What's that? A honey bee and a male yellowjacket on the same blossom?
That's exactly what we saw Nov. 14 at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis.
Honey bees and yellowjackets belong to the same order, Hymenoptera, but different families. The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is in the Apidae family, while the yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, belongs to the family, Vespidae.
When beekeepers open the hives at the adjacent Laidlaw facility, trouble can start between the honey bees and the yellowjackets. It's no secret that female yellowjackets establish their nests near apiaries to prey upon honey bees and their brood. They need the protein for their offspring.
But here they were--the honey bee and the yellowjacket--together.
The first occupant: the honey bee. She began foraging on a rose blossom when suddenly a male western yellowjacket approached her. Seemingly unaware of his presence, she kept foraging. He poked her with his antennae. She ignored him. He crawled up next to her and took a close look at her. She kept foraging.
A few seconds later, he left.
Puzzling.
Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, later commented: "I can't help but wonder why the male yellowjacket was visiting a rose flower--no nectar there, so no reward for him."
"Maybe he was just checking out the other occupant 'while searching for love in all the wrong places.' "
Indeed, the male yellowjacket may have been looking for a suitable mate.
This one? Definitely not suitable!
Male yellowjacket heads toward a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Male yellowjacket checks out the honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee continues to forage, while the male yellowjacket crawls away. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Just Waiting in the Germander
It's no secret that bees are fond of germanders or Teucrium, a genus in the mint family, Lamiaceae.
And it's no secret that praying mantids are fond of bees.
Although it's a little late in the season for praying mantids, we spotted this one hiding in a bush germander last Friday in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee garden located on Bee Biology Road next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, University of California, Davis.
The mantid's abdomen bulged. She was very much pregnant.
Nearby honey bees from the nearby Laidlaw apiary nectared on the blue flowers. One bee tucked herself inside the blossom, oblivious of the nearby predator.
Current score: Praying mantis: 0. Honey Bee: 0.
But tomorrow is another day.
Note: The garden is open from dawn to dusk for self-guided tours. Groups who'd like a guided tour may contact Christine "Chris" Casey at cacasey@ucdavis.edu for more information.
Pregnant praying mantis camouflaged on a germander twig. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee nectaring on germander. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
As the Worm Turns
There it was.
A green caterpillar, aka larva, aka worm, occupied a blanket flower (Gaillardia) last Friday morning in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre pollinator garden on Bee Biology Road at the University of California, Davis.
Soon a honey bee from the nearby Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility landed on it. And then a Painted Lady butterfly, its wings tattered from predatory attacks, joined the duo.
Well, what WAS that green caterpillar?
We asked butterfly expert Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of entomology at UC Davis. "Well, it's a Noctuid (owlet moth family)," he said. "It may be one of the infinite variety of color forms of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens, which is common right now--the fine lengthwise striations suggest that--but maybe not."
He suggested we contact his colleague, David Wagner, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut.
"I am guessing that it is either Heliothis virescens as suggested by Art or Helicoverpa zea," Wagner said, looking at the photo. "Both equally probable. The former often favors plants with glandular secretory hairs: Solanaceae, geranium, etc."
According to Wikipedia, the Noctuidae or owlet moths "are a family of robustly build moths that include more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera."
Noctuidae comprises the largest family in Lepitopdera.
Most fly at night. Many are drawn to sugar and nectar-rich flowers. Some head over to the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven.
As for Helicoverpa zea, it's a major agricultural pest. It's known by various names, depending on what it consumes. When it consumes tomatoes, it's a tomato fruitworm. Cotton? Cotton bollworm. Corn? Corn earworm. And the list goes on.
We thought that perhaps a neighboring praying mantis would take a culinary interest in the worm, but not so.
The Noctuid appeared to a landing strip for honey bees and Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui). They kept touching down and pulling up.
As Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology quipped: "If you're in the middle of the road, you're going to get hit."
Buddies? A honey bee edges toward a Noctuid caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
If two is company, is three a crowd? Painted Lady, honey bee and Noctuid caterpillar on blanket flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Know Your State Insect(s)
Quick, what's the state insect of South Dakota?
If you answered "the European honey bee," you're right. The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is also the state insect of 16 other states: Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
We call "our" honey bee the European or western honey bee because it's non-native. European colonists brought it to this country in 1622 to what is now Jameston, Va. Surprisingly, however, Virginia's state insect is not the honey bee, but the tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus).
California, too, has a non-bee state insect, even though this little agricultural worker arrived here in 1853. The Golden State's choice? The beautiful California dogface butterfly (Zerene Eurydice), a native. California is one of 27 states heralding the butterfly as its state insect. (Not all states have state insects, and some states have more than one. See Wikipedia.)
If you visit the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis campus, at its pre-Halloween open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 27, you'll see a wall map of the United States with a colorful image of each state insect.
The museum, home of more than seven million insect specimens, is located in 1124 Academic Surge on Crocker Lane (formerly California Drive).
Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis, encourages all to wear Halloween costumes. Last year many wore bee and ladybug costumes. Some painted their faces with a butterfly motif.
There will be plenty to see and do. There's even a live "petting zoo" (think Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and a rose-haired tarantula).
If you're unable to attend the open house Saturday, be aware that you can visit the Bohart Museum from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. It's closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission? Free.
The gift shop holds assorted treasures, including t-shirts, jewelry, insect-themed candy, and posters of the California dogface butterfly and dragonflies.
A golden honey bee nectaring lavender. Seventeen states list the honey bee as their state insect. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee decorates the map of South Dakota, signifying it's the state insect. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
U.S. map at the Bohart Museum shows the states with state insects. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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