Check out our Pollinator Display at this year's Portland Fair

 

We hope you'll check out our educational display at the main entrance of this year's Portland Fair, which will be open Oct. 6-8, 2023.

Our theme for this year is: "Welcoming pollinators into our yards, one plant at a time."

Did you know: More than 1,000 of all pollinators are vertebrates such as birds, bats, and small mammals. Most (more than 200,000 species) are beneficial insects such as flies, beetles, wasps, ants, butterflies, moths and bees, according to Pollinator Partnership.

Let's dig in!

Butterflies and Moths

Butterflies

• Adult butterflies feed exclusively on nectar through a tube-like tongue called a proboscis.

• Most butterflies prefer flower nectar, and in the process of feeding, they spread pollen from one flower to another.

• On July 21, 2022, The migratory monarch butterfly was declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Moths

• Moths are nocturnal versions of butterflies.
  
  
• Adult moths are much more diverse than butterflies. Moths evolved first, and there are many more species of moths than butterflies.
  
  
• According to pollinator.org, flowers pollinated by moths are typically very fragrant and lighter in color. These traits allow these flowers to attract moths at night, as the lighter colored flowers are better at reflecting moonlight.

Hummingbird Moth

• Feeds from flowers like a hummingbird.
  
  
• Their wings can hold them in flight for as long as is required to feed.
  
  
• There are currently 17 known species of hummingbird moths, most of which frequent America.

Wasps are pollinators, too.

• Wasps will visit flowers to seek out nectar for energy. As they visit each flower, they transfer pollen from plant to plant. (Source: Oregon State University Extension Service.)
  
  
• Wasps are important pollinators for figs and orchids! "More than 100 orchid species rely on wasps as pollinators. Some have evolved flowers that mimic the backsides of female wasps in order to lure in the males." (Source: National Wildlife Federation.)

Bees, Beetles, and Flies, oh my!

Native Bees

• There are 3,600 native bee species in North America. 
  
  
• About 90 percent of native bees are solitary and do not live in groups.
  
  
• Mason bees are some of the earliest appearing bees in the spring! 
  
  
• Habitat loss and pesticides are major contributing factors to the decline of native bees. 

Honeybees

• One of the most important pollinators in the world and imported from Europe. 
  
  
• Most of the food you eat wouldn’t be possible without honeybees.
  
  
• There are many different species of honeybee, but the European honeybee is by far the most common.
  
  
• While bees bring pollen back to the hive, their bodies become dusted which gets transferred from flower to flower.

Beetles

• Beetles were actually some of the first insects to pollinate flowers during the Cretaceous period when flowering plants were first evolving.
  
  
• Beetles are among the most essential pollinators.
  

Flies

• Flies are among the most common insects in the world, and many of them have evolved hairs all over their bodies which capture pollen.
  
  
• Flies are often more numerous than bees.
  
  
• Unlike bees, do not use pollen for food, so all of the pollen that sticks to the flies usually end up on another flower.
  
  
• Penn State Extension has great info on hover flies here. According to Penn State Extension: "These flies have been recorded visiting over 50 different crop species. They often resemble bees with yellow and black striped bodies. However, they have a distinctive flight pattern, and because of this pattern, they are often called 'hover flies.' There are more than 6,000 described species of flower flies in the world and over 400 in the northeastern U.S. alone."

Hummingbirds

• Small and colorful!
  
  
• More than 330 species globally. In the Northeast, we see the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
  
  
• Hummingbirds can flap their wings up to 200 beats per second!
  
  
• Like bees, hummingbirds eat nectar. They feed five to eight times per hour and visit dozens of flowers daily.

Let's hear it for the bats!

• Are the only mammals capable of sustained flight.
  
  
• They make up 20 percent of all known mammals and consist of at least 1,411 species.
  
  
• Bats live on nearly every corner of the globe and play a vital role in insect control, seed dispersal and pollination.
  


• Similar to moths, bats are nocturnal pollinators, and are just as important in pollinating crops as daytime pollinators (birds, butterflies and bees).
  
  
• Bats may feed on flowers of economically important commercial crops, such as dates and mangoes. 
  Source: Maryland Agronomy News – A University of Maryland Extension Blog (umd.edu)