northeast-flora-and-fauna

I got 2 confirmations on this ID so I think we can be fairly confident that this is a Golden Northern Bumblebee . (It does have a prominent black band on its thorax and an especially yellow abdomen like any good Golden Northern Bumblebee.) Despite the "northern" part of its name, it can occasionally be found in places like Arkansas, Alabama, and Georgia. The name isn't entirely inappropriate though, since it does sound like they're more common in the northeast than down south. Each spring the queens emerge from hibernation and feed on nectar/pollen until they're strong/healthy enough to start a colony. They'll each build a nest and lay 8-10 eggs for whom she provides honey. When these bees grow up, they take over the foraging and the care of the next generation of eggs the queen lays; at this point the queen's responsibilities shift from being a do-everything mom to mostly being the egg-layer. In the fall, some of the eggs develop into males (drones) and n...

This is probably an Common Eastern Bumblebee , 1 of our most commonly seen bumblebees, but other bumblebees in the area can look similar, especially the Brown-belted Bumblebee and the Two-spotted Bumblebee . (Presumably the bumblebees have no difficulty distinguishing their species from the others, but IDing them can be tricky for us humans.) I have to admit that the 1st time I saw a bee with those orange blobs [1] on the legs, I wondered whether it was due to disease or some sort of parasite, but it turns out that they are pollen baskets . While "basket" may make you think of a container, bee pollen baskets are basically all pollen shaped into an oval that the bee can carry home. Quite a few bees will use pollen baskets, including honeybees , bumblebees , stingless bees , and orchid bees . My guess is that the presence of pollen baskets suggests that this particular bee had a successful day of pollen foraging. September 7, 2020 at the John Clyde Native Grassland Preserve Ph...

Though flower flies, moths, and butterflies are all pollinators, perhaps the classic pollinators are the bees. And in central New Jersey the most commonly seen bees are the Western Honey Bees and the bumble bees , with the Common Eastern Bumble Bee being the most frequently seen bumblebee. These 2 types of bees are fairly closely related, both residing in the same insect subfamily . Generally speaking you can tell them apart because honeybees tend to be thinner, less hairy, and with a clear distinction between the head and thorax, while bumblebees tend to be rounder, quite hairy, and it's hard to tell where the thorax ends and the head begins. There is a key difference between the way bees pollinate and the way butterflies and moths pollinate. Butterflies and moths are just looking to drink nectar and only accidentally transport pollen from plant-to-plant. Bees on the other hand will drink nectar but will also purposely transport pollen back to their nest to be eaten, though so...