Bombus vosnesenskii (yellow-faced bumble bee)
 |
Bombus vosnesenskii Family: Apidae Adult size: Queens: 0.7 – 0.8 in (18-21 mm) Type: Beneficial |
|
Life cycle phases: Description: The yellow-faced bumble bee has short, even hair and a short, square face. The fringed hairs on their hind legs form the pollen basket, called the corbicula. Antennae are medium length on the queen and females (workers), longer on the males (drones). The eyes on the queen, females, and males are all of similar size and shape. All of them are patterned with black and yellow hairs. The females and queen are relatively identical in colouring with black thoraxes marked with yellow strips at the head and the T4 segment of their thorax. Colouring on the males is almost the same but varies with more yellow on their sides which extends further up the back on their thorax. Males also have an additional yellow stripe on their abdomen and no pollen sacs on their hind legs. They also do not have a stinger. Only the female workers and queens have a stinger…which is barbless, meaning it can be retracted and extended again and again…allowing them to sting multiple times. However, in general, bumble bees are not aggressive, therefore unlikely to sting unless their nest is disturbed.
Special Notes: One of about 40 species which are native to the west coast of North America, Bombus vosnesenskii is found in British Columbia, Canada…south to Baja, California and Mexico…and touches into western Nevada. Due to their large size and hairy bodies, they are able to fly in cold, damp weather which makes them a very important early pollinator in our gardens. This species has been a popular pollinator for the commercial greenhouse trade, especially for tomato growers. Even so, the extent of urban sprawl has impacted on nesting density of this bumble bee species. Where once Bombus occidentalis (western bumble bee) was the most common species, diseases brought to this part of the country by commercially-raised bees from eastern United States, has infected the population of B. occidentalis almost to the point of extinction. Now Bombus vosnesenskii is the most commonly seen bumble bee on the west coast.
Bumble Bee Life Cycle Queens are the only bumble bees who survive at the end of the season. After mating, they search for a suitable spot where they will hibernate through the winter. Emerging in late winter or early spring, depending on the bumble bee species, the queen begins foraging for nectar and pollen. Nectar is vital for energy during this chilly period. Pollen is for the replacement of her body fats, plus it provides protein for the maturing of her ovaries. Once she has secured enough pollen for those purposes, she will collect it to horde for feeding her offspring. Supplying plants in your garden such as early spring crocuses, winter heathers, rosemary, pussy willow, berberis (barberry), mahonia (Oregon grape), and daffodils will ensure a food supply for these early pollinators. When the queen has fed and she is ready to lay her eggs, she searches for a suitable nesting site. This is almost always underground, and typically, they will utilize an abandoned mouse hole. However, they have been known to nest in tussock-type grasses and wooden bird nest boxes. Once a nest site has been selected, the queen builds a small wax cup which, when complete, she fills with nectar. This will be her food supply for the duration of her egg incubation period. A second wax cup is constructed and a mound of pollen, called a pollen ball, about one inch (2.5 cm) in diameter is built inside the cup. The queen lays her eggs…usually 200 to 300, but sometimes as many as 500…on the pollen ball, which will be the food source for the larvae when they hatch. Bumble bee eggs are poikilothermic, meaning they are not able to regulate their own temperature independently of the ambient air. The queen must, therefore, incubate her eggs. To do this, she lays her abdomen on the clump of eggs and begins vibrating the muscles in her thorax. Once heat has built up…which can take up to 15 minutes when the ambient air is only 6 °C (43 °F)…she transfers it from her thorax to her abdomen where it will warm the bald patch located on her underside. Naturally, the queen must leave her eggs for short periods of time in order to feed from her nectar cup. During the time it takes the queen to sate her appetite, the temperature of her eggs will have dropped to the ambient temperature level. These periods of temperature drop do not have any adverse effect on the development of the young larvae, however. Four days after the eggs are laid, the larvae hatch and begin feeding on the pollen ball. The queen continues to incubate the larvae, leaving them only when she must feed herself. This is when the queen is likely to leave the nest again, if she has run out of nectar in her wax cup. The larvae will moult three or four times as they continue to eat and grow over the next two weeks. At the end of that time, the larvae transform into pupae. During this stage, the larvae go through metamorphosis to change from a grub-like larva into an adult female bumble bee. This first generation of female workers then take over incubation and feeding duties from the queen, who in turn, focuses on laying more eggs through into mid-summer. With subsequent generations of workers becoming adults, the work duties are split. Some workers head out to forage, traveling as far as 3.2 km (2 mi) from the nest as they forage for flower nectar and pollen. The rest of the workers remain in the nest to rear the young, clean the nest, and maintain the temperature of the nest…either by producing heat through their thorax and sending it out from their abdomen or cooling the temperature by fanning their wings near the entrance to the nest. Come mid-summer, the queen lays fertilized eggs, which will grow into new queens, and unfertilized eggs which will grow into males (drones). These specialized adults emerge from the nest in late summer and do not return to the nest. The males lay their scent on plant material relatively near the ground, in the hopes of attracting a new queen with which to mate. Once a queen is fertilized, the male will die soon afterwards and the queen begins her search for a good hibernation spot to wait out the coming winter.
Hibernation emergence by species: Bombus vosnesenskii – yellow-faced bumble bee
Posted on March 24, 2017 |
|
Archaeognatha (bristletail)
 |
Archaeognatha Family: Machilidae Common name: bristletail; jumping bristletail Adult size: 6 – 20 mm |
|
Type: Beneficial Description: Bristletails have an elongated body, roughly cylindrical in shape. The thorax shows a definite hump and their whole body is covered in thin, tiny scales. Large compound eyes meet in the middle of the head and there are three ocelli, or little eyes…simple, light detecting organs. Their most unique feature…the one which sets them totally apart…is their mouthparts. It is unusual because their mandibles are monocondylic…they connect to the head in only one place. The mandibles of all other insects are dicondylic…they connect to the head in two places. Usually grey or brown in colour with distinctive mottling, they have six legs, two long flexible antenna, and three long tails with the middle one being the longest. There are several small, bendable “styli” found in the middle and hindmost sections of the body which are thought to be rudimentary appendages. They also have eversible membranous vesicles…sacs which are capable of extending and turning inside out…along both sides of their body which are specifically designed to absorb water, or moisture from their environment. There is little metamorphic change during the nymph stages, once the eggs have hatched. Archaeognaths progressively molt through six instar stages to reach adulthood and most references claim they can live anywhere from four to eight years. Sexually, the Archaeognaths are also a little different. Males and females do not copulate to reproduce. Rather, once they reach sexual maturity…possibly taking as long as two years…the males produce a string of spermatophores (tiny packets of sperm) on a spun thread from their abdomen. The threads are somewhat haphazardly attached to the substrate in locations where a female is likely to stumble across it…although there are some species where the males will do a courtship dance to entice a female to their spermaphores. The aroused female picks up a packet of sperm and deposits it on her ovipositor. Depending on the species, the female will lay her eggs in a suitable crevice…either singly or in batches of up to thirty eggs.
Special Notes: There are approximately 350 or more species of bristletails worldwide. They are found on every continent…including the Arctic and Antarctica. Of particular note…when molting the bristletail must first anchor themselves to the substrate. But if the fecal material they use as an anchoring cement to hold themselves in place through the molting process should fail to hold, the bristletail is not able to complete its molt and will die.
Posted on November 24, 2016
|
|
Leptoglossus occidentalis (western conifer seed bug)
 |
Leptoglossus occidentalis Common name: western conifer seed bug Family: Coreidae Host plants: conifers & angiosperms Adult size: 0.65 – 0.8 inch (16-20 mm) |
| Life Cycle: one generation per year (see Special Notes below) adult – overwinter egg – 10 days nymph – 5 instar stages lasting about 8 weeks
Description: Adults emerge from their overwintering spots in mid-May to early June. A few days later, females start to lay their eggs in small groups on conifer needles and leaf stems of garden plants. Eggs hatch in 10 days. The young nymphs go through 5 instar stages as they feed on conifer needles and the tender tissue of cone scales. During the latter instar stages, when the nymphs have developed their piercing and sucking mouth parts, they will feed on developing conifer seeds. The final moult into adults occurs by mid-August. Adults are varying shades of brown and look quite similar to assassin bugs and shield bugs. Their abdomen, which is revealed when they fly, is yellow or orange in colour with five black lines clearly defined and running horizontally across the body. This is a true bug. They belong to a small group of insects called the leaf-footed bugs. This name comes from the flat, leaf-like expansions on their hind legs.
Special Notes: First identified in its native range of California, Oregon and Nevada in 1910. Species began to expand its range eastwards and northwards in the 1950s…reaching into Canada in 1985 and the eastern seaboard by 1987. Discovered in northern Italy in 1999, it then began traveling throughout Europe (France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Croatia). By 2008, it was found in Tokyo, Japan and in 2009, Istanbul, Turkey. It is also making its way through England as well as Mexico…and possibly other tropical regions. Because of its expanded range, the life cycle of this bug varies. In its native warm, temperate regions there is only one generation per year. This holds true for other regions of similar weather patterns. However, in some parts of Europe there are two generations per year…and in Mexico and other tropical areas, there are three generations per year. Status: I have listed this bug under “Beneficial” as it has a purpose in Nature’s grand scheme of things. However, it can become a bit of a pest to conifer plantations where it can cause damage to the developing seed cones through feeding on the sap. They can also be a nuisance for their propensity of over-wintering in our homes, whenever and wherever they can find an opening to squeeze through. They are perfectly harmless, however, except when they are startled or touched. They will then emit an unpleasant pungent, acrid odour.
Posted on September 12, 2014 |
|
