Bee flies (Bombyliidae) are a group of flies that belong to the order Diptera, though they mimic the appearance and behaviour of bumble bees. They have only one pair of wings, large eyes, and short antennae like other flies. Though they also have a fuzzy appearance with hairs covering their bodies. They also make a buzzing noise when they fly.

The bee fly has more in common with bumble bees than just sharing a similar appearance. Both bee flies and bumble bees compete for similar floral resources. Bee flies are sometimes reported to be less effective pollinators as they have long stiff tongues that allow them to access nectar from flowers without landing on them. Bee flies likely remain hovering near flowers while extracting nectar to help them avoid predation, as they can more quickly fly away if they did not land on the flower. However, it is unclear whether they are actually less effective pollinators as static electricity pulls pollen towards bee flies while they are pollinating flowers. Bee flies also visit flowers more frequently than bumble bees, which could actually make them a more effective pollinator. More research is likely required to fully understand the effects flies, including bee flies, have on pollination as previous pollination studies have typically focused only on bees, butterflies, and hoverflies as pollinators.

Bee flies are good fliers, as they can move fast, change direction quickly, and hover in the air. As previously discussed, hovering helps them avoid predation but it also helps them parasitize bumble bees. Bee flies lay their eggs in the spring. They hover over bare ground, where the bumble bees dig their nests, and drop their eggs into the openings of bumble bee nests. The fly larvae hatch and feed on the food supply that was meant for the developing bumble bees, or on the developing bumble bees themselves. The larvae pupate and stay inside the nest until the next spring, when they emerge as adults.

Bee flies are widely distributed throughout North America. In Calgary, member of the bee fly family that have been observed interacting with flowers include tawny-tailed bee fly (Villa fulviana), Poecilanthrax tegminipennis, Woolly Bee Flies (Systoechus sp.), Anastoechus sp. , Poecilanthrax alcyon, Greater bee flies (Bombylius sp.), Poecilognathus sp., and sinuous bee fly (Hemipenthes sinuosa). The tawny-tailed bee fly, Poecilanthrax tegminipennis, Poecilanthrax alcyon, and sinuous bee flies are native to Canada.

The tawny-tailed bee fly is pictured below.

The prickly rose or Alberta wild rose (Rosa acicularis) is the provincial flower of Alberta, Canada, where it is native. It is widespread and common across North America. It is associated with everlasting love in Greek mythology. Later, in Mediaeval times, it became associated with power.

Prickly rose is a bushy shrub that grows 0.5 to 1.5 meters tall and has spines, prickles, or thorns on its stems and leaves. It has compound leaves that have teeth on the edge and drop off in winter. The flowers are single, pink, and 5 to 7 centimeters across, with five petals that are pink to rose in colour. The flowers are pollinated by bees, butterflies, and other insects. The fruits are fleshy, pear-like that are dark red or purple and contain many seeds.

Prickly rose is a valuable plant for humans as the rose hips and seeds are rich in vitamin C and E, respectively, and have many medicinal uses. They can prevent colds, treat cough or sting, relieve menstrual pain and regulate menstruation, and be used as eye drops. The rose hips can also be eaten fresh, once the seeds are removed, or made into a jelly, beverage, or syrup. So too can the petals.

Prickly rose is an important food source for wildlife, especially in the fall when the rose hips are ripe. Bears, coyotes, snowshoe hare, beavers, rodents and other small mammals, and grouse are some of the animals that feed on the plant. Birds use the thickets as nesting grounds and protective cover, and small mammals also use them as refuge. However, the prickly rose can become less appetising and more spiky over time as a natural kind of self-defence. This defence mechanism leads to more growth and shoot production with prolonged deer browsing. In Alaska and Alberta, using this plant for revegetation is advised because it can boost biodiversity, minimize erosion, and improve soil quality. The prickly rose can tolerate a wide range of soil moisture and texture conditions, as well as high acid, flood, and low nutrient levels. It is also fire resistant.

Hummingbird moths belong to the genus Hemaris, with their common name coming from their ability to mimic hummingbirds. Hummingbird clearwings are active during the day like hummingbirds, which is rare among members of the sphinx moth family (Sphingidae). Furthermore, the range of hummingbird moths and hummingbirds is similar. They both hover above flowers to feed on nectar, either using their long proboscis or beak to reach nectar that is typically inaccessible to other pollinators. They can both hover due to beating their wings incredibly fast: a hummingbird averages 50 beats per second and a hummingbird moth averages 85 beats per second. They even produce a humming sound.

Hummingbird moths also mimic the appearance of hummingbirds, which often gets them mistaken for hummingbirds. They have large bodies that tend to be, at least in part, red-brown in colour. They have clear wings with red-brown borders and veins. The males also use hairs to mimic the flared tails of hovering hummingbirds. However, hummingbird moths are much smaller, at about 1-1/2” long.

There are two species of hummingbird moths commonly found in Alberta, the hummingbird clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) and snowberry clearwing (Hemaris diffinis). Hummingbird clearwings have a red-brown abdomen and pale legs, whereas snowberry clearwings normally have yellow and black colouration with black legs and a black line running down their sides and eyes.

To reproduce, the females will release a pheromone that attracts the males. The females will then lay small, round, green eggs on the underside of leaves of the plants that the larvae feed on. These plants include honeysuckle, snowberry, hawthorns, cherries and plums, and European cranberry bush. The larvae are yellowish green with a tail spike. They pupate in a thin cocoon in the leaf litter. They overwinter in this stage and emerge as butterflies in the spring. Depending on the conditions, hummingbird moths may produce two or one brood per year. In warmer conditions they produce two broods from March to June then August to October, while there is only one brood in the colder conditions of the north, which occurs from April to August.

To attract these native pollinators into your yard try planting phlox, beebalm, honeysuckle, verbena, lilac, and snowberries. These are some of the flowers that hummingbird moths are attracted to. Also, avoid raking your leaves in the fall as this will kill any individuals overwintering in your yard.

A snowberry clearwing is pictured here.

The upright prairie coneflower is also commonly referred to as mexican hat or long-head coneflower. It is scientifically referred to as Ratibida columnifera. The species name columnifera means column, as these flowers have long, cylindrical center disks. Prairie coneflowers belong to the Asteraceae family (which you tell as it has a center disk made up of many individual flowers growing together) and is found throughout North America, from Canada to Mexico. It can be found and is native in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan.

To identify the prairie coneflower look for a tall center cone (2 inches) surrounded by 3 to 11 drooping yellow petals that each contain a notch at their ends. The flowers are found at the end of an erect stem that can be up to 3 feet tall. The leaves are pinnately lobed, with each leaf having 5 to 11 lobed. The leaves are blue-green in colour. The prairie cornflower typically grows in groups of itself.

In Calgary it blooms in the late summer. Prairie coneflowers can be planted in the fall or in the spring if they have undergone stratified cold treatment. They are drought tolerant and prefer sunny and dry conditions.

The bright yellow colour is attractive to pollinators including skippers, checkered beetles, miner bees, bumblebees, honey bees and other bees. In addition to the benefits for pollinators, the prairie coneflowers also have medicinal benefits. The medicinal benefits include treating poison ivy rashes, headaches, stomach aches and fevers. It has also been used to extract snake poison by the Cheyenne, who boiled the leaves and stems then applied the solution to the bite.

This month we are going to do something a bit different for our plant and pollinator walk! I would like to invite you all to contribute to the Rare Plants of Alberta Community Science Project! The walk this upcoming week will be at Eagle Child Tipi Ring Site, located on the Kainai First Nation Reserve.

Saturday August 3, 2024 at 1:00pm - 3:00pm at Eagle Child Tipi Ring Site.

We will meet at Naapi's Garden  and then drive together to Eagle Child Tipi Ring Site (a five minute drive). We will walk around the site, looking for Purple Geranium and recording photos of neighbouring plants to iNaturalist. We will walk around, taking photos of plants, and learning their cultural significance.

All you will need is a smartphone with a camera and a good pair of shoes. The photos you take of any plants can be uploaded to iNaturalist to participate in the Rare Plants of Alberta Project. We suggest downloading iNaturalist, creating an account, and joining the Rare Plants of Alberta iNaturalist project ahead of time.

The data collected during community plant walks will be used in research at the University of Calgary to investigate the relationships between rare plants and their communities in Alberta.

Register through the form here.

Email contact.appc.hub@gmail.com with any questions.

Hope to see you there!

Justine & Tory

The hunt’s bumble bee (Bombus huntii) is a species of bumble bee that is native to western North America. They are a medium-sized bee (9-20 mm) with a medium tongue length, which allows it to feed on a variety of flowers. It has a distinctive color pattern, with a yellow face and head, a yellow scutum (the upper part of the thorax), a black inter-allar space (the area between the wings), a yellow scutellum (the posterior part of the thorax). Their abdomen consists of a yellow tergite 1 (the first segment of the abdomen), red-orange tergites 2 and 3, a yellow tergite 4, and a black tergite 5. They are commonly confused with tricoloured bumble bee and orange-rumped bumble bee. However, hunt’s bumble bee has more yellow on its face and head compared to the tricoloured bumble bee and the orange-rumped bumble bee has black and yellow hairs on their face, head and thorax.

The hunt’s bumble bee is a social insect, with a caste system of workers and a queen, and division of labor among the colony members with the queen reproducing and the workers raising the young and finding food. This is similar to the social structure of honeybees. However, bumble bees have an annual life cycle, in which only the newly emerged fertilized queens survive the winter by hibernating underground. This differs from the honeybee who lives for multiple years. In the spring, the queens emerge and search for a suitable nest site.

The queens then lay eggs and rear the first batch of workers, who take over the tasks of foraging, nest maintenance, and brood care. The colony grows throughout the summer, producing more workers and eventually males and new queens. The males and new queens mate, and the old queen and workers die by the end of the season.

The hunt’s bumble bee is an important pollinator, commonly interacting with plants, such as yarrow, Canadian milkvetch, fireweed, purple prairie clover, shrubby cinquefoil, American licorice, prairie sunflower, hairy golden aster, silky lupine, wild bergamot, goldenrods, western snowberry, and smooth aster. They have been developed for commercial pollination of crops, which poses a threat to their survival because this process involves stealing queens from their nests. They are also threatened by the introduction of diseases from honey bees, such as the deformed wing virus, which can infect and harm bumble bees. Though despite these threats the hunt’s bumble bee is commonly observed in Calgary.

Common tansy (Tancetum vulgare) is also referred to as bitter buttons, garden tansy, cow bitter, and golden buttons. It is native to Europe and Asia, but was introduced to North America in the 1600s for its medicinal uses. It is currently used to treat colds and flus, and as an insect repellent (specifically for mosquitoes and Colorado potato beetles). It has also been used for embalming bodies or packing perishable items as it contains a compound with antimicrobial and antifungal properties. Historically, its medicinal uses include aiding in digestive problems, intestinal worms, and causing abortions within cattle. However, it contains toxic alkaloids and consuming too much tansy can cause illnesses or death in humans and in wildlife. It has also been reported to make the milk of cattle taste bad if consumed by them.

Tansy is commonly found in disturbed areas, like roadsides and pastures, of temperate regions of North America and is pollinated by flies, butterflies and honeybees. This plant is a perennial herb found within the sunflower family, (Asteraceae). It has yellow, button shaped flowers that grow in clusters at the ends of purplish-red stems. Its leaves are serrated and divided with sharp edges, making them fern-like. Additionally, the leaves are dark green and occur in an alternate pattern on the stem. The common tansy is considered an invasive weed as it competes with other plants for water and nutrients, and spreads through creeping rhizomes (horizontal stems). The seeds of the common tansy can remain viable for up to 25 years so preventing it from becoming established is the easiest way to deal with it. However, it can also be dealt with through mowing or herbicide use.

The common tansy is commonly confused with tansy ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris), which is poisonous and is also considered a weed. Tansy ragwort is differentiated from common tansy as it has yellow flower petals and lacks the sharp tooth leaves. Instead of planting the common tansy, you could try planting the dune tansy (Tanacetum bipinnatum), a similar species that is native to Alberta, or yarrow (Achillea sp.), which has a similar smell to tansy and also has many medicinal properties.

The painted lady (Vanessa cardui) is one of the most widespread of all butterflies, as it can be found in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and Central America. It is native to Canada, where it usually arrives in June after migrating from warmer regions. It cannot survive colder climates, so it migrates again during the winter. They use the winds that occur at high altitudes to assist with their migration.

The painted lady has orange wings with black tips. The upper side of the forewings have a pattern of white spots and thick black lines. This is visually similar to the American lady, but it can be distinguished by the four eyespots instead of two on its hindwing. The underside of their wings consist of a pattern of black, brown, red-orange and gray colours. The four small eyespots are also visible from the underside, near the edges of their wings. Females are generally larger than males.

The painted lady butterfly feeds on nectar from many plants, including purple coneflower, thistles, red clover, asters, blazing star, cosmos, New England aster, Joe-pye weed, Mexican sunflower, zinnias, red clover and milkweed, though it typically prefers tall plants. The painted lady can also be called the thistle butterfly. Its scientific name (Vanessa cardui) means “butterfly of thistle”. This is because it is associated with thistle as the wide range of the weed likely also allowed the butterfly to spread widely throughout the world.

To reproduce, the territorial males wait for females to enter the territory, then mating commences. The males will also mate with multiple females. They reproduce when conditions are favorable, this includes year round mating in warmer climates. Mating results in small green eggs to be laid on the leaves of its host plants, which include thistle, mallows, hollyhock, legumes, and other plants from the Compositae, Boraginaceae, and Malvaceae families. Over 100 host plants of the painted lady have been recorded. The larvae emerge after 4 to 14 days as spiny, gray-brown to purple-black with yellow stripes caterpillars. They feed on the leaves of their host plants, which can have serious negative consequences to the plants if there are too many caterpillars on it.

Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a herbaceous plant that belongs to the aster family (Asteraceae). They have multiple white flowers growing from one or more stems that branch near the top, causing the flowers to form a flattened dome shaped cluster at the top of the stems. The leaves of the common yarrow have a feathery or lace-like appearance as they are pinnately lobed to form leaflets that are further divided into smaller leaflets. The leaves are alternate. The stems are hairy. Common yarrow grows to be 3 feet tall. They have a bitter taste and a distinctive smell.

Common yarrow has varieties that are native to North America, however there are also varieties of common yarrow that are introduced to North America and have the potential to become invasive. It is found in mildly disturbed soil throughout the Northern hemisphere.Yarrow is used by many for its medicinal properties. The Cree name for common yarrow translates to “head medicine” or “bone medicine”. All parts of the common yarrow can be used medicinally. It is used to reduce pain, clot blood and to prevent infections from occurring. It is also used to treat cuts, burns, stings, headaches, toothaches, stomach aches, inflammation, hemorrhoids, colds, flu, and many more ailments. It has also been used as a deodorant and smudges to repel mosquitoes.

Common yarrow is also an important ecological feature. It provides pollen and nectar to attract butterflies, wasps, flies and bees. Additionally, it can aid in biological control as it attracts predatory insects and parasitoids, including green lace wings, lady bugs, hoverflies, and tachinid flies. They act as a food source for various mammals. They are used for restoration and help with erosion control.

It is a perennial with drought tolerant properties and the ability to grow in cold, low nutrient soils, though it does prefer full sun and warm conditions. When common yarrow grows in more challenging conditions flowering can be delayed and seed production can be reduced.

Hello Everyone!

The next community pollinator walk will be MOVED from June 2 to Sunday June 9, 2024, from 1:00pm to 2:30pm at Fish Creek Provincial Park ☀️ You can register for the walk here. We will gather at Votier's Flats (13511 Elbow Dr SW, Calgary). 🐝🪲🐞

There was a great turn out at the last native plant rescue! There will be another rescue tomorrow! Join the Alberta Native Plant Rescue group this Sunday, June 2, 2024, from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Genesis Land Development Corp. has granted us permission to hold a Native Plant Rescue at their Logan Landing Development, immediately south of Seton in Calgary. We will be working two areas below the escarpment down (see map in the Rescue Announcement), visible from 212 Ave SE.

IMPORTANT: Read the Rescue Announcement June 2 for information about the event and the required materials. This is private property so all volunteers attending will need to register by email before the event.

To register for the Native Plant Rescue, please download and fill out the Native Plant Rescue Waiver June2 and send it to Blake McNeill (albertaplantrescue@gmail.com).

Reach out if you have any questions!

Warm regards,
Justine

Alberta Plant and Pollinator Hub
contact.appc.hub@gmail.com