This year, our annual Pollinator Safari in collaboration with Westerly Land Trust took place as part of their Farm Squad program at Barlow Nature Preserve. We were joined by twenty 5-10 year-old nature enthusiasts in search of flower-visiting insects.
Safari Report & Species List
This year, we had a gorgeous sunny day for the safari. We observed just under 20 species of flower-visiting insects, all within less than a mile walk around the Barlow Nature Preserve! In addition to the below species that my lab knew how to identify, students were excited by ants and dragonflies, which are out of our area of expertise, but still super cool! To see up-close photos of many of these species, visit my lab’s (growing) digital collection.
Bees & wasps (Hymenoptera)
- Wilke’s mining bee (Andrena wilkella)
- Bicolored striped sweat bee (Agapostemon virescens)
- European honey bee (Apis mellifera)
- Green metallic sweat bee (Tribe: Augochlorini)
- Common Eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens)
- Half-black bumble bee (Bombus vagans/sandersoni)
- Confused sweat bee (Halictus confusus)
- Ligated furrow bee (Halictus ligatus)
- Small sweat bee (Lasioglossum sp.)
- Resin bee (Megachile sp.)
- Squash bee (Peponapis pruinosa)
- Northern paper wasp (Polistes fuscatus)
- Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica)
Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
- Sulphur butterfly (Colias)
- Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Flies (Diptera)
- Eastern calligrapher fly (Toxomerus geminatus)
- Margined calligrapher fly (Toxomerus marginatus)
Beetles (Coleoptera)
- Green June beetle (Cotinis nitida)
- Red milkweed beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus)
Providence Pollinator Lab 