Tuesday, July 6th by Emily Greenland

Welcome to another Pollinator Plot update for the week of June 28th! Inspired by
Ashley’s post, I’ll start off with a quick introduction before we get to the news…

 

ABOUT ME:

Hello! I’m Emily, a sophomore intended biology major and environmental studies minor at the College of Wooster. I’ve always had a love for the outdoors and a fascination with insects. My childhood was spent climbing trees, walking in the creek, and looking for bugs. Though I have gone through phases of catching what my family calls “potato bugs” and “lightning bugs”, identifying the butterflies in my backyard, and researching ants and cicadas, my favorite insect has always been the hummingbird hawk-moth (look them up- they’re pretty odd looking). My work with the Pollinator Plots has helped to shape my education, provide work experience in the field, and allow me to share my passion with others. I hope you enjoy learning with me through this site and iNaturalist this summer!

Garden Update:

 

As some of our flowers are wrapping up their blooms, we have some new blooms ready to appear any day now! Here’s a sneak peek at the new flower- any guesses?

 

 

 

 

 

Pinning and iNaturalist Updates:

We finished pinning the 6/23 collection this week, so we will be able to jump right into pinning our upcoming collection next week. One of our collection bowls had a whopping 7 bees in it! Also, the 6/9 collection has been uploaded to iNaturalist and is awaiting identification. Check back next week for some 6/23 bee pictures!

 

Interestingly, 3 out of the 15 bees in the collection were Calliopsis andreniformis (or Eastern Calliopsis Bee).

 

 

 

Here are 3 collections worth of vials, either filled with flies and wasps or ready to be washed.

 

 

 

Our first filled box of the Pollinator Plots! It has all of our 5/26 collection and a few of our 6/9 collection.

 

 

Scientist Updates:

This week was great for catching up on some indoor work! In addition to pinning and photographing, we have been working on our scientific terms and identification skills. Though daunting at first, we were able to use an identification key to help us with this bee:

 

Though we weren’t sure what it was at first, we were able to narrow it down to Ceratina- a new find for the plots this year!

 

 

 

 

Fun Pictures:

As always, here are some lovely pictures taken this week!