Diario del proyecto Theodore Payne Foundation

It's been very warm here at TPF, but there have still been many awesome observations on our grounds through our iNaturalist project! When it's this hot, we notice lots of wildlife seeking shade and food from our native plants. The redberry buckthorn (Rhamnus crocea) is full to bursting with juicy red berries. These will provide not just food, but vital hydration to animals like the California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi), observed enjoying some shade.

Just like us, all animals need water to live, and we're happy to share with our local critters. A lesser goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) was spotted helping itself to some water from a leaky irrigation pipe. The small pond in our demonstration garden has is buzzing with insects drinking and collecting water all day, especially the Western honeybees (Apis mellifera), who sit on top of the algae and other water plants to carefully sip.

If you want to help provide a drink to your thirsty wildlife neighbors, you can put out a shallow bowl or dish of water with small stones in it. The stones help birds to gauge the depth of water, while also providing a landing and drinking platform for insects. Make sure to let the water evaporate completely before refilling to help deter mosquitos. Providing habitat and resources is a great way to get started observing the wildlife near your home!

The heat of summer is starting to take hold here at Theodore Payne Foundation, but there's still plenty of life buzzing, flitting, crawling, and growing all around us! We'll take a moment to highlight some observations from the last month.

Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are out in force for their breeding and migration season. We've seen 2-3 generations of caterpillars on our narrow leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) so far, with plenty of adults visiting the abundant nectar sources in the gardens. The kotolo milkweed (Asclepias eriocarpa) hasn't seen any caterpillar action yet, but we'll continue to keep an eye out for any larval kings & queens that visit it.

Many other pollinators are also enjoying the abundance of pollen and nectar on these hot days. Many of the various buckwheats (Eriogonum sp.) are in full bloom, providing their boons to visitors such as gray hairstreak butterflies (Strymon melinus). We've also been enjoying spotting our native bees, including the charismatic California bumble bee (Bombus californicus). The bees are frequently caked in pollen, varying in color from deep blood-orange, to pale yellows, and even shades of blue!

One neat observation from this month was a cactus coreid bug (Chelinidea vittiger). These bugs are part of the family coreidae, a large group of sap-sucking insects. The cactus coreid receives both safety and nutrients from the cactus. It hides amongst the spines, safe from predators, and feeds upon the juicy cactus flesh. While mostly considered pests, they're clever little bugs and worth looking out for!

Of course, where there's bugs, there's beasts eating those bugs- there have been a whole heaping pile of leaping lizards at TPF recently! Three species of lizards run the reptile world here, but for today, we'll just touch upon the Western whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris). These striped lizards feed on a variety of invertebrates, including lepidoptera. However, I'm not sure how high their success rate is, as watching a whiptail attempt to catch a butterfly is quite comical. Catching a good photo can be difficult with the speed of these lizards, but its always worth it to see their handsome scaling and funny little faces.

This week we're celebrating World Bee Day! You may be most familiar with bees through the work of Apis mellifera, the European honeybee, but did you know California is home to over 1600 species of native bees? Native bees have co-evolved with our native plants to meet each other's needs. Pollen provides bees with the protein they need to help their young develop. Different pollens provide different amino acids, the building blocks of protein. Different bees need different amino acids, so over generations, they develop a relationship with a flower whose pollen provides the exact amino acids they need, and become specialists: primarily visiting that flower! The Diadasia we tend to see at TPF specialize on cactus flowers. They're fast moving bees- diving into the flower, rapidly circling its center, and picking up a load of pollen on their hairy bodies.

Not all bees are specialists—a great deal visit a wide variety of flowers to get the nutrition they need. One of the most common generalists are the Halictidae, also known as sweat bees. The Agapostemon sweat bees are particularly striking, with metallic green heads and thoraces. California Digger Bees are also generalists: you may notice it visiting the same small, purple flowers of Lilac verbena in many observations on our project. Lilac verbena is very popular with generalist pollinators: its sweet-smelling flowers have pollen and nectar that are easily accessible to a variety of shapes and sizes of pollinator. That means more competition to retrieve those precious resources- so generalists count on there being plenty to go around!

You may notice something suspicious about some 'bees' observed recently... Despite a black-and-yellow-striped fuzzy abdomen and clear wings, the California clearwing (Hemaris thetis) is a member of the sphinx moth family. Their larval host plant are snowberries (genus Symphoricarpos), but the bee-appearing adults feed on many different flowers.

With the arrival of the rich blooms of spring, we see peak pollinator diversity here on the TPF grounds. Some of our favorites have been showing up, such as Perdita interrupta—also known as the California poppy fairy bee. At a quick glance, they almost look like large ants, and don't mistake them for another tiny bee commonly sighted on the California poppies: the red-tailed micro-shortface (Micralictoides ruficaudus). You may want to bring out a hand lens to check out the identifying characteristics on some of these species! Another exciting find is the endangered, endemic Crotch's bumblebee (Bombus crotchii) as well as more fuzzy friends, like the California bumblebee (Bombus californicus) and Woolly darkling beetle (Eleodes osculans). It's a fantastic time to take close looks at the ground, on the flowers and leaves of plants, and under rocks to see what interesting life you might find.