I live on the south coast of Massachusetts and according to the map I'm in one of the few communities without Spring Beauty! However, a group I'm in is trying to promote No Mow May to encourage people to not mow their lawns till after May. This supports early blooming flowers and pollinators and also provides them some extra cover and habitat as they emerge. Maybe someday Spring Beauty will make its way to us!
Thanks Diane for writing this fascinating article. Per Sandy's question, the adult bees die once the eggs are laid and provided for. Their job is done. Hopefully there are plenty of eggs that grow on the provisioned pollen to develop into the next generation of adults that emerge next spring to continue the story! Most adult insects do not live more than a few weeks, tho it varies from a day or two, up to several months for most insects. Queens of some termites can live up to 50 years!! But that is not common in the insect world.
Thanks for the comprehensive intro to a species I was unfamiliar with! And I learned a new word: oligolege. I think we have a relationship like this on the West Coast, that I've observed since planting native Clarkia amoenas: there is a Clarkia bee that clips little half-moons out of the petals and lines her nest with them. Clarkia blooms range from palest salmon to deep fuchsia and all in between, so I just imagine Clarkia queens laying their eggs in these little hot-pink quilts. I bet they are considered oligoleges too, although I am not sure if they are also dependent on the pollen of the Clarkia, or just use it for nest-building! Very cool.
Thank you for the explanation and the lovely photos. Since we are in Arkansas, I will look for these! Guess what! I just realized that photos I took of the lovely delicate flowers in our woods must be the Spring Beauty. They grow among some clover along the roadway where our dog Charlie & I walk. Thanks again.
This is all very interesting! Having little knowledge of bees, I had always thought that their spreading of pollen was just a happy coincidence of their being covered in pollen while looking for nectar. Reading that the Sleeping Beauty are in bloom for such a short time period, I am wondering if the Spring Beauty Mining Bee also goes back into some type of hibernation once the trees leaf out and shade their chosen source of pollen. As always, thank you for the excellent pictures!
I live on the south coast of Massachusetts and according to the map I'm in one of the few communities without Spring Beauty! However, a group I'm in is trying to promote No Mow May to encourage people to not mow their lawns till after May. This supports early blooming flowers and pollinators and also provides them some extra cover and habitat as they emerge. Maybe someday Spring Beauty will make its way to us!
Great timing to see this post. I believe these are what I have in my yard. They are so pretty, but I haven't seen them in past years.
Thanks Diane for writing this fascinating article. Per Sandy's question, the adult bees die once the eggs are laid and provided for. Their job is done. Hopefully there are plenty of eggs that grow on the provisioned pollen to develop into the next generation of adults that emerge next spring to continue the story! Most adult insects do not live more than a few weeks, tho it varies from a day or two, up to several months for most insects. Queens of some termites can live up to 50 years!! But that is not common in the insect world.
Thanks for the comprehensive intro to a species I was unfamiliar with! And I learned a new word: oligolege. I think we have a relationship like this on the West Coast, that I've observed since planting native Clarkia amoenas: there is a Clarkia bee that clips little half-moons out of the petals and lines her nest with them. Clarkia blooms range from palest salmon to deep fuchsia and all in between, so I just imagine Clarkia queens laying their eggs in these little hot-pink quilts. I bet they are considered oligoleges too, although I am not sure if they are also dependent on the pollen of the Clarkia, or just use it for nest-building! Very cool.
Thank you for the explanation and the lovely photos. Since we are in Arkansas, I will look for these! Guess what! I just realized that photos I took of the lovely delicate flowers in our woods must be the Spring Beauty. They grow among some clover along the roadway where our dog Charlie & I walk. Thanks again.
This is all very interesting! Having little knowledge of bees, I had always thought that their spreading of pollen was just a happy coincidence of their being covered in pollen while looking for nectar. Reading that the Sleeping Beauty are in bloom for such a short time period, I am wondering if the Spring Beauty Mining Bee also goes back into some type of hibernation once the trees leaf out and shade their chosen source of pollen. As always, thank you for the excellent pictures!