I Dig This Bee!

...and she's digging my coneflowers!

She's a Sunflower Bee or Svastra obliqua* and she's been visiting the Echinacea purpurea all day.

  Those tufts of hair on her legs that look like fuzzy leg warmers (scopae) are designed to collect and carry pollen

Svastra obliqua is found from Mexico to Montana, and east to Quebec, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Florida; it's one of the most common and abundant species in the Svastra genus. Sunflower bees are major pollinators of commercial sunflower crops, but, they will forage on many flowers in the asteraceae family.

She's had plenty of opportunity to sup on nectar and gather pollen as she moves around the new coneflower at Clay and Limestone.  She'll work one coneflower, then move to the next, never stopping to visit the Gaillardias, Asclepias or Zinnias that are planted in the same containers.

You've probably observed this same behavior among many of the pollinators in your garden. Biologists call this phenomenon flower constancy.

Pollinators that practice flower constancy will pass on more nectar rich plants in favor of a known and reliable nectar reward.  The question of why this flower constancy exists is a rich and important one that is beyond the scope of this post,...If you want to explore the science please go here and here.

But, here's what I have observed in my garden! My Bumbles practice flower constancy; some work the agastache, others work the lavender and while Svastra obliqua was visiting my garden, she worked the coneflowers.  (The other thing I have noticed was how much more sense it makes to have drifts of these plants rather than a plant here and a plant there. bees don't have to work as hard to get their rewards or help us get ours~pollinated plants.)

 I am so glad a Svastra obliqua stopped by to hang around on the coneflowers! It was a treat. I met a new pollinator, learned about flower preferences and watched my hard working gardening friends dance among their favorite flowers.

That's what gardening for wildlife is all about!

xoxogail


PS I am so very sure you don't need me to remind you that if you want pollinators in your garden, you must never, ever, ever, ever use pesticides.


  *  The Sunflower Bee looks remarkably similar to another Long-Horned Bee, Melissodes...but, it's much larger.


Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone." She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.