{"id":1903,"date":"2019-09-05T05:13:16","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T05:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/?p=1903"},"modified":"2019-09-05T05:13:22","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T05:13:22","slug":"found-in-oregon-a-native-squash-bee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/2019\/09\/05\/found-in-oregon-a-native-squash-bee\/","title":{"rendered":"Found in Oregon: A Native Squash Bee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Natter\u2019s Notes <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Found in OR: A\nNative Squash Bee <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jean R. Natter<\/strong>, OSU Master Gardener<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"female<\/figure>
\n

This month, let\u2019s talk about a friendly \u201cfirst record\u201d for Oregon. Instead of a new pest, it\u2019s a native bee previously thought not to be in OR: the squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa<\/em>, collected for the first time in southern Oregon during 2018. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fig 1:<\/strong> Female squash bee (above image); numerous pollen grains clinging to the scopa (pollen-collecting hairs) on hind leg of female squash bee; also notice her squared-jaw. (https:\/\/bugguide.net\/node\/view\/1420105\/bgimage<\/a>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Thanks for the effective sampling goes to citizen scientists\ncollecting native bees for a survey sponsored by the recently formed Oregon Bee\nAtlas (OBA). A second sample was acquired later on, again in southern Oregon.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Oregon Bee Atlas (OBA) represents the first steps\ntowards gathering and organizing knowledge about our state\u2019s native bees. The\nOBA\u2019s mission (2018-2021) is to train citizen scientists (committed volunteers)\nto identify the many native bees known to reside in the state, and to seek new\nnative bee records for the state. After a species checklist has been created, periodic\nfollow-up surveys will be able to determine whether the numbers and health of\nOregon bees is improving or declining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of finding these two bees, the OBA has issued a\n\u201csquash bee call to action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that we \u201chave two confirmed samples,\u201d they say, \u201cit\nwould be great to get a map this year of the extent to which these bees have\nspread through Oregon \u2013 even negative results are welcome\u201d In other words, OBA\nwould like its volunteers start looking specifically for squash bees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a project perfect for early risers. Volunteers need\nto go out early \u2013 dawn — before the flowers open, and manually unfurl the\nflowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Currently, it\u2019s thought likely that squash bees won\u2019t be in\nthe northern part of the Willamette Valley. But who knows? Nature may surprise\nus.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The OBA Protocol for locating squash bees: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Early in the morning, open mature flowers of the larger\nflowered Cucurbita<\/em> species and count the squash bees inside. These are\nmale bees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Only survey zucchini, pumpkin, and other large flowered\nsquashes. Not cucumbers or small flowered plants.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Take photos (clear, focused) of the flowers with squash\nbees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Record how many squash bees you find in the flowers,\ncollect the bees, then preserve them in rigid containers in your freezer until\nyou contact me (j.r.natter@aol.com<\/a>).\nI\u2018ll forward your documentation to the OBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. OBA also requests you record the date and time of the\ncollection; your name; the address; latitude; longitude; the flower (pumpkin;\nsquash, etc.); and the number of squash bees in each. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Female<\/figure>
\n

\nDifferentiating between squash bees and the more common honey bees will \nbe easy. The two bees are about the same size, but the abdomens of \nsquash bees (Fig. 1) are marked with well-defined white bands whereas \nhoney bee abdomens aren\u2019t. (Fig.2)\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fig 2:<\/strong> Female honey bee (above image), Apis mellifera<\/em>, common in landscapes and gardens country-wide. (https:\/\/bugguide.net\/node\/view\/1364844<\/a>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Resources <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video: \u201cJourney of the Squash Bees\u201d (UC Davis) https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pAQVNl0C-H0<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video: \u201cSquash Bee Natural History\u201d (UC Davis) https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WobQObH4oDE<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Bees in Your Backyard\u201d (Wilson & Carril; Princeton\nUniversity Press; 2016; pages 224-225.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images of squash bees, Peponapis pruinosa<\/em>. (https:\/\/bugguide.net\/node\/view\/83553\/bgimage<\/a>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PDF Natter’s Notes September 2019 Squash-bee<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Natter\u2019s Notes Found in OR: A Native Squash Bee Jean R. Natter, OSU Master Gardener This month, let\u2019s talk about a friendly \u201cfirst record\u201d for Oregon. Instead of a new pest, it\u2019s a native bee previously thought not to be in OR: the squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa, collected for the first time in southern Oregon… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8248,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1179565],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natters-notes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8248"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1903"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1949,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903\/revisions\/1949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/mgmetro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}