Recent sightings of the rare blue calamintha bee (Osmia calaminthae) in Florida have captured the public’s interest. Many Floridians may be wondering if the blue bees they see in their yards or communities are the blue calamintha bees. But ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Forests, Home Landscapes, Natural Resources, Wildlife
This is a guest post by Mark Wilhelm, an undergraduate student and research assistant in the Dale Lab at the University of Florida Entomology and Nematology Department. Florida homeowners are often left puzzled and concerned when they see ... READ MORE
Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Home Landscapes, Invasive Species, Lawn, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension
Central-place foragers are animals that return to the same nest in between foraging trips, collecting their food, or food for their offspring, in an area around that nest. Animals that are not central-place foragers instead roam continuously, ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Farm Management, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
If you are outside on a hot day working in the gardening, or taking a walk through a park, you might find a shiny bee resting on your sweaty skin. It is probably a sweat bee! Sweat bees are a large, diverse group of bees in the family Halictidae ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Farm Management, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Elephants, mosquitoes, and butterflies share something in common – they have a proboscis! A proboscis is simply a long appendage coming out of an animal’s head, and is used to describe the nose or snout of a vertebrate, like an elephant, ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Horticulture, Lawn, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Not all moths are night creatures. In fact, one of the most colorful moths in Florida, the bella moth Utetheisa ornatrix, is active during the day when we can admire its beauty. The wings of the bella moth are a combination of orange, pink, ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
The green orchid bee, Euglossa dilemma Friese, is a large, beautiful, metallic green bee named for its unique association with orchids and its distinctive color. While it can be found in the southern half of Florida, it is not native to this ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Lawn, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
A scopa is a part of a bee’s body that is designed to hold and carry pollen. Bees must transport pollen from the flower, where it is collected, to the bee’s nest, where it is deposited to feed the bee’s offspring. In order to transport ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Farm Management, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Horticulture, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Hoverflies, also known as flower flies or syrphid flies, are perhaps the most unrecognized and underappreciated pollinators. They are actually thought by some scientists to be the second most important group of pollinators after bees! This ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Farm Management, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Pollinators sometimes play favorites when choosing plants to forage on, a behavior known as flower constancy. This behavior can be seen across many different types of pollinators, but is perhaps best known in honey bees and bumble bees. As ... READ MORE
Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife