SES Pollinator Garden: more than butterflies …

Posted onAuthorswallow

Our garden started life in 2011 at the community garden (SE corner, Highway 99 at Mamquam Rd) as a butterfly garden. Since then, our focus has shifted to the importance of many more kinds of insects and their places in our ecosystems, so we now think of it as a pollinator garden. In summer 2021, Jim Gracie and friends completely revised the garden and included many new species of plants.

My first look at the garden in July 2020 emphasized butterflies and bumble bees.  Last summer I visited more often and photographed other bees and flying insects, including some males of a common species of bumble bees and one butterfly new to me. Have a look at what I found.

  • 01 This dragonfly appears to be eating a very small insect it has found in the dried flower.
  • 02 The male has yellow markings on his face plate (clypeus). This sweat bee is common here April through September. .
  • 03 This tiny bee is common here May through October. It likes flat flowers like this daisy where it is gathering pollen by circling the centre of the flower. Species can't be determined from a photo.
  • 04 These female leafcutters collect and carry pollen in the hairs on the underside of their abdomens. This bee has very yellow/orange hairs - that is not the colour of the pollen.
  • 05 A very small bee that resembles a mason bee. A western species and we are at the northern boundary of its range. iNaturalist shows only 2 observations in Canada in summer 2021 and both are from Squamish.
  • 06 This is one of our most common bumble bees. The males emerge later in the season, are larger than the female workers, and have much more yellow hair.
  • 07 This is another male colour form of the same species as the previous photo. Notice the orange bands in the bottom part of his abdomen (at right in the photo).
  • 08 This is a member of the Flower fly family (Syrphidae): its name reflects the importance of many species as pollinators. This species was introduced but several other local species of Eristalis are native.
  • 09 This fly is a Tachinid, from the same family as our common house fly. Many Tachinids feed regularly on pollen.
  • 10 The small skipper butterflies tend to keep their wings closed when they light. This species took flight in our area in late July last summer.

If you have time to help the garden grow, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator.

Gwen

Photo above: Eight-spotted skimmer (Libellula forensis), a western North American species. We are very close to the northern boundary of its range. I saw these skimmers many times at this location, so perhaps they were feeding on small insects in the dried blooms. Skimmers are not known for feeding on pollen and nectar!