2022 iNat in Review

Species observed by me in 2022
Orange: insects
Green: Plants
This is ironic; see below.

The beautiful graphic above is interactive 

(to me, hopefully to you, also) on my iNat page here.

2022: I see I only interact with Jody, Amelia, and once with Charlie (a Vermont biologist)
Neylon is a syrphid specialist, beeboy is Vermont bee specialist, johnascher is internationally known for his bees

The irony: my most commented observation was a goldenrod gall.
That's because others and myself love the insects in them.

It was a better year for me on iNaturalist than the past three years. I hope to do more this coming season. I have also been slowly adding observations that I never posted in years past. The data on my 2022 year end review tells me a lot about myself. There is nothing new about what I see: I stay to myself and don't reach out much. I doubt that will change. There are so many memories of bug hunts and taking photos with Amelia and Jody . . . so many stories. 

_/\_/\_

A Sand-loving Wasp

Sand-loving Wasp (Tachytes)

Who knew there were sand-loving wasps? I didn't until this week when John Ascher and Spencer Hardy both said, at iNaturalist, that it was. I certainly have a lot to learn about wasps. I've spent the last few years focusing on native bees. 

These small wasps don't seem to be a danger to people; but they are to grasshoppers, crickets and katydids. They paralyze those insects, carry them back to an underground tunnel with several cells branching off of it, put about thirteen paralyzed insects in each cell (I have no idea why thirteen), lay an egg at the end of the cell and seal it off. The larvae consume the insects, which, I hope, are dead by that time. The adults sip nectar. 

These wasps are also called green-eyed wasps or square-headed wasps. The eyes and head are the predominant field markings, as are the translucent wings. Next season I will be paying attention to those details. These wasps are frequently mistaken for bees (which I did). They are more sturdily built than most other wasps, which also contributes to misidentification. 

The one reason I thought this was a bee were the eyes. They looked yellow to me, but I had never seen yellow bee eyes. I also have not seen every species of bee that lives here, so I decided this was a bee that was new to me. Little did I know that there are wasps with green eyes. Proper lighting would have shown them to be green. If you double-click on these photos and view in the lightbox, you can see the eyes better. This individual may be a female because the eyes are small.

There are thirty-five known species in this genus in North America. Identification down to species is done by genital dissection. So this is as far as the identification of this little wasp goes.

If you want to know more about these pretty wasps, see Eric Eaton's article here.  Please be sure to double-click his photos to see those eyes!

Saturday's Critters at
Viewing Nature with Eileen

_/\_/\_

John Missed Finding a Bee

Orange-tipped Wood-digger bee
(Anthophora terminalis)

On June 22, 2020, I found an Orange-tipped Wood-digger bee (Anthophora terminalis). You have to understand a few things to understand how much excitement this caused. John, my husband, and I found bugs both common and uncommon in Orleans County. He had great eyes and I worked the camera. We hiked our land as much as possible to find more. But he died. And now, because of arthritic knees, I haven't been able to walk about searching for bugs like we used to do. With a cane or walker and a chair, I can set myself down near promising areas and shoot. It's actually a good way to get a phenology and inventory of creatures that are in a very small area. You can find dozens if you sit long enough. But without my beloved John, it is as sad as it is comforting to go on a bug hunt.

 

The bee in the these photos settled in front of me for a brief moment and I managed to get eight shots off before it left, only two of which were usable. I knew it was not a bumble bee but had no idea what it was. I always submit my insect shots to iNaturalist, where members (community scientists and professional scientists of all kinds) identify plants and animals. When a renowned Vermont bee expert identified my bee that day, I whopped. Loudly.

 

No one before June, 2020, had found this species so far north in Vermont. I submitted the find to bugguide.net for confirmation, and it came in overnight from a world-renowned international bee expert.

 

These photos now document the first reporting of this bee in Orleans County. iNaturalist had eight other sightings in other Vermont counties that season. I am in the company of the great community scientists that I so admire. 

 

I was sad that John missed out on the excitement. He was such an enthusiastic part of these quests, and he would have been proud of this find. But despite his death, my knees, the pandemic, and the tragedy of fellow Americans suffering under racism and hate, I have learned that sometimes something wonderful like this can still happen. Sometimes, I can smile again.

Read more Nature Notes here.

_/\_/\_

Happy Tuesday: Honey Bees

This is a Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera). I average about one observation a season, which is fine with me. In fact, I see them so infrequently that I usually can't identify them. Last night, JF and I were texting about this bee and her bee observation from yesterday, that I now suspect is also a honey bee. Mine is feral; hers may be domestic.

Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

To be clear, Apis mellifera is now considered by many entomologists to be invasive. The primary problem with them is that they spread disease. and perhaps parasites, to our native bumble bees. We have been advised by bee experts in Vermont to use maple instead of honey for sweetening. Of course, being the nation's largest producer of maple, that is easy for me. I myself have gallons of maple syrup from my trees. Honey bees can also displace our native bumbles and give them overwhelming competition for food. Native bumbles do not produce honey in quantities for humans; they can also be used by commercial pollenating companies.

I was very happy to receive identification confirmation overnight at iNaturalist. Everyone is invited to contribute iNaturalist. It is the biggest community scientist project around, and it's for flora and fauna. There is a poorly developed app for your phone (the link is for iPhone and Android). There is also an app called Seek for people, like one of my daughters, are beginning naturalists. The Android version is here. To many of you gardeners; you are perfect candidates for contributing to science.

Have a marvelous week!

Click and see more happiness!

_/\_/\_