This week (June 21 - 27) is Pollinator Week! The entire week is dedicated to recognizing the unseen - and unsung - heroes of our world: bees, butterflies, flies, beetles, and other insects that pollinate our plants.
Most people are familiar with honey bees and bumble bees pollinating flowers. But tons of flies do that work as well.
I often let part of my yard go wild. Buttercups blossom in the tall grass, and about three weeks ago I noticed a fly hanging out in the buttercups. I think this is a tachinid fly, and I've read that they pollinate buttercups. But this spring is the first time I've seen them - or at least paid attention to what the flies buzzing around me are doing.
Learn more about pollinator conservation over at the XERCES Society - and what you can to do save the bees, flies, and other insect pollinators.
And on Friday, join me for a look at Begin With a Bee, a new picture book about the rusty-patched bumble bee.
Thanks for the beautiful photos and the information. I didn't know so many insects were pollinators. I will have to be kinder to flies.
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