Bumblebees (bombus polaris), moths, butterflies, mosquitoes (Culicidae) and gnats (Nematocera) are still here.
Observation: I keep up my walking and notes of what mundane things I see on these walks. This will be my fourth walk this week up the Chistochina River Trail. The previous walks were under overcast sky and cool temperature. Today was much warmer and under a sun that has been out since daybreak. There were several bumblebees out and about. One large bee and the others much smaller. All the pollen from the summer season are gone. I saw a number of butterflies ranging from medium sized ones all brown, and medium sized one all black. One very large one multi butterfly colored yellow, orange and black. There are not many mosquitoes left but still out and the gnats are always the last to leave so I expected those. A little blue moth was out and about. That was all occurred today, from a 3 hour walk.The oddity is that it is typical of the end of summer. Say late July early August. Frost should have disposed of all evidence of summer activities and we should have gone on to fall stuff. Pollen is mostly a spring issue. I saw pollen activity all the way through August and then it stopped. Finally why were the bees still out hunting whatever it is they need? There were nothing left in the way of flowers or fireweed in bloom. What do bees do after everything dies on the vine?
LEO says: There have been many observations posted about the mild and unseasonable conditions starting with salmonberry blooms, mid February 2016 in Sitka. The first observation we received about bee seasonality was about early emergence of bees from King Cove in February 2015. This year we had an observation about early honey bee activity in Anchorage in March. We have contact some of our local bee friends to get their perspective on the behavior of wild an introduced honey bees this year. You can identify the type of bumble bee (bombus) by using this guide Select Bumblebee Species of Alaska, provided by www.bumblebee.org.
Resources:
Alaska Fish & Wildlife News (2012-06), The Brief Busy Life of the Arctic Bumblebee by Anne Sutton
U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Pollinator Gardens in Alaska – Most flowering plants depend on bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other animals for pollination. Pollination is an essential part of plant reproduction, producing fertile seeds and, in some species, fruit. In Alaska our pollinators include at least 95 bee species and 75 butterfly species!
Mosquito Reviews, Mosquitoes Are Useful to Pollinate Flowers – Most people think of mosquitoes only as insects that suck blood, but they have another niche in the ecosystem--they pollinate flowers. Mosquito Facts by Elizabeth Miller
A gnat /ˈnæt/ is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the Dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. Source: Wikipedia
Media:
The New York Times (2016-10-17), 6 scientists, 1,000 miles, 1 prize: The Arctic Alaska Bumblebee by James Gorman, "One hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, by the side of a dusty road, two women in anti-mosquito head nets peer at a queen bumblebee buzzing furiously in a plastic tube. "I think it's the biggest bumblebee I've caught in my life!" Kristal Watrous says. Source: Alaska Dispatch News
