Pollinators in the backyard today

[MissS]

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My dog Murphy and I were sitting in the shade of a tree. This little one dropped by to keep us company.

[karstopography]

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Gulf fritillary posing on a Zinnia. Black Swallowtail chrysalis.

[karstopography]

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Green Metallic Sweat Bee, an important pollinator in these parts.

[bower]

I saw an unusual (for us) bumblebee on my brassica flowers today, so ran in to get the camera, but I couldn't get any closer than this without scaring bee away. Was trying to get good pics of the back and also the face, since that's important for bumblebee ID, according to Bumblebee Watch. It is such a cool thing they are doing. You submit pics and they provide a key to ID your bumblebee. And they have experts to take a look as well. Citizen science. Not sure if these pics are big enough but perhaps an expert could still ID this bee with the orange stripe.

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[pepperhead212]

I only saw one swallowtail caterpillar on my dill, so far, but it's till a little early here, for many pollinators, but also probably being held up by the extreme dry weather. My zinnias and Mexican Sunflowers are just getting started, and they attract a lot. I've been buzzing the blossoms on many of those veggies - helps with the early ones, and I have been seeing hardly any pollinators, where I'll see them all over, in a few more weeks...hopefully.

[karstopography]

@Bower I vote either Bombus rufocinctus or Bombus ternarius. Handsome bumble bee either way.
https://naturalatlas.com/animals/bombus ... -75634312c
https://caul-cbua.pressbooks.pub/bumble ... pe-breton/

[bower]

Ooh I think you got it there with Bombus ternarius. Common in Cape Breton, that's a stone's throw across the water. I've only seen them once before, but perhaps they will be more common here in the future.

[karstopography]

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A battered Giant Swallowtail Butterfly visits the Zinnias. Half the fun of Zinnias is watching what shows up to feed on the nectar.

[Seven Bends]

I'm mad at pollinators today. I was swarmed by a small group of yellow jackets yesterday and stung three or four times, ran across the yard shrieking and discarding clothing because one got up under my shirt and another was stinging me through my glove. Guess I'm lucky it wasn't the whole nest that came after me.

[karstopography]

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Horace's Duskywing

[worth1]

I'm mad at pollinators today. I was swarmed by a small group of yellow jackets yesterday and stung three or four times, ran across the yard shrieking and discarding clothing because one got up under my shirt and another was stinging me through my glove. Guess I'm lucky it wasn't the whole nest that came after me.

One time I got up under a camper shell to pick it up and move it.
I smelled something and detected something wasn't right.
Right by my head was a huge nest of yellow striped wasps often mistakingly called yellow jackets.
I gentlely set the shell back down and crepted out from under the shell.
Never did get stung.
That nest was probably 6 inchs across and covered in the critters.

[bower]

I'm mad at pollinators today. I was swarmed by a small group of yellow jackets yesterday and stung three or four times, ran across the yard shrieking and discarding clothing because one got up under my shirt and another was stinging me through my glove. Guess I'm lucky it wasn't the whole nest that came after me.

Those ones that nest in the ground are so aggressive. You must've stepped near the nest, so take a careful look at the area.
Mind you the paper wasps are also very free with their stings, but you can talk them down (to some extent). I had a big nest built on one of the tomato cages last summer, and we managed to coexist without stings after I made it clear, those plants will die if I can't peacefully water them.
Still after that nest was gone, there were a lot of wasps around the buckwheat I planted near the back door at end of summer, and I have never had so many stings. I'll never plant buckwheat near the house again!

[karstopography]

I get nailed by paper wasps every summer when I trim the bushes. I have noticed the wasps tend to build their nests in the same spots year after year.

[bower]

I was wondering if I should wipe down that structure with vinegar before I put tomatoes out there again!

[worth1]

I was wondering if I should wipe down that structure with vinegar before I put tomatoes out there again!

Why wipe when you can spray?
Just saying.

[Seven Bends]

I'm mad at pollinators today. I was swarmed by a small group of yellow jackets yesterday and stung three or four times, ran across the yard shrieking and discarding clothing because one got up under my shirt and another was stinging me through my glove. Guess I'm lucky it wasn't the whole nest that came after me.

Those ones that nest in the ground are so aggressive. You must've stepped near the nest, so take a careful look at the area.
Mind you the paper wasps are also very free with their stings, but you can talk them down (to some extent). I had a big nest built on one of the tomato cages last summer, and we managed to coexist without stings after I made it clear, those plants will die if I can't peacefully water them.
Still after that nest was gone, there were a lot of wasps around the buckwheat I planted near the back door at end of summer, and I have never had so many stings. I'll never plant buckwheat near the house again!

You're much kinder to wasps than I would be. After the first sting, they would have been outta there! I do love seeing their nests from a distance, though.

My yellow jacket experience happened at my mom's house when I was doing some yard work for her. Unfortunately, all I was doing when they came after me was walking along the path from her shed to her lawn, so I have no idea where or how I disturbed them. Yesterday, I mentioned the stings to her next door neighbor, who had landscapers working in his yard the last few days. He said one of them was stung also, and they found a nest in the ground at the base of a tree on the far side of his property (away from my mom's house). He has a pest control company coming out tomorrow to deal with it. I'm hoping that's where my tormentors came from. If so, that may explain why it was only three or four of them instead of a whole swarm. And maybe it was the landscapers' work that stirred them up in the first place.

[Seven Bends]

I'm mad at pollinators today. I was swarmed by a small group of yellow jackets yesterday and stung three or four times, ran across the yard shrieking and discarding clothing because one got up under my shirt and another was stinging me through my glove. Guess I'm lucky it wasn't the whole nest that came after me.

One time I got up under a camper shell to pick it up and move it.
I smelled something and detected something wasn't right.
Right by my head was a huge nest of yellow striped wasps often mistakingly called yellow jackets.
I gentlely set the shell back down and crepted out from under the shell.
Never did get stung.
That nest was probably 6 inchs across and covered in the critters.

I probably would have dropped the camper shell on my head, knocked myself out cold, and been stung to death.

[worth1]

I'm mad at pollinators today. I was swarmed by a small group of yellow jackets yesterday and stung three or four times, ran across the yard shrieking and discarding clothing because one got up under my shirt and another was stinging me through my glove. Guess I'm lucky it wasn't the whole nest that came after me.

One time I got up under a camper shell to pick it up and move it.
I smelled something and detected something wasn't right.
Right by my head was a huge nest of yellow striped wasps often mistakingly called yellow jackets.
I gentlely set the shell back down and crepted out from under the shell.
Never did get stung.
That nest was probably 6 inchs across and covered in the critters.

I probably would have dropped the camper shell on my head, knocked myself out cold, and been stung to death.

It took nerves of steel because I knew what the alternative would be.

[pepperhead212]

I feel for you, @Seven Bends! I had a bad experience with ground nesting yellow jackets one time, when I hit a nest way on the back of my tomato row, when I was hoeing, and I got stung 23 times total, before I got inside my back porch. I'm lucky I'm not severely allergic, though I had an expired epinephrine shot, if it had been worse. To kill the things, I watched from a distance, and noted 2 small holes they were entering at the back of that row, and that night I went back there and poured some 20% acetic acid down the holes. Problem solved, and that was what I used a couple of other times I had seen them since, but fortunately, it hasn't been a frequently recurring problem. I watch for them, for sure.

[worth1]

Years ago when I was around 16 or 17 we had our onions stored in the barn on some plywood.
The bumblebees made a big nest under the plywood.
My dad went down to run them out and he told my mom and I to stay away.
It was about 100 yards from the house.
My mom never listened and she made herself and I go check on him.
Not a good idea and I told her as much.
He was out in the barnyard fighting off the bees with a pump sprayer and was surrounded by the bumblebees.
A whole cloud of them but he was holding his own.
We were about 50 yards away and the cloud of bees took off after us.
I took off when they got closer and my mom didn't.
So they converged on her.
I looked back and saw her being swarmed by the things and she was flapping her arms yelling for me to come back.
Come back you s of a b she yelled, come back!
I ran like a coward to the house to save my own skin.
My dad had his own bees to worry about.
After it was all over my mom was mad as hell I didn't stick around and get stung too.
No telling how many times she got stung.
My dad took up for me for running off and not hanging around to get swarmed too.

By the next day my mom's head looked like a swollen pumpkin and both her eyes were swollen shut.
It was like that for days and she couldn't see.
Thankfully I could cook so we didn't starve.

That of all reasons is why I developed an ability to stay calm around these critters.
I've managed to get along with them and know what sets them off.
One time I got a honeybee in my bee veil and it stung me on the eye lid.
I was blind out of it for almost a week.