Sierra Gooseberries Blooming With Pollinators
Sierra Gooseberries Blooming With Pollinators
It is warm enough and there are sufficient blooms on our locally native plants, such as Whiteleaf Manzanita and Sierra Gooseberry, that the early emerging native pollinators are already flying and busily gathering nectar and pollen. So, I have been out and about with my camera stalking the native pollinators to see who is pollinating what.
I am intrigued by our native pollinators, especially bees, and have been photographing and studying them for the past few years, but I still have quite a lot to learn, as identifying many of them can be tricky. That said, with the aid of some excellent books and good close-up photos, I think I am becoming much more familiar with these incredibly diverse and important insects.
I have been especially interested in observing the pollinator activity on the Sierra Gooseberry, Ribes roezlii, which is in peak bloom right now.
The flowers of the Sierra Gooseberry are quite enchanting, with their red and pink-white blooms dangling downwards like Christmas tree lights along the prickly stems. They are best appreciated up close, as they are small and delicate with a complex structure that creates a challenge for large-sized insect pollinators.
Though I have seen the occasional visiting Hover Fly or Black Tail Bumblebee, by far the most frequent pollinator visiting these gooseberry flowers are the Metallic Sweat Bees, genus ioglossum. At first you might think they are small, shiny black flies, but closer inspection reveals their true identity as native Sweat Bees.
The females gather and transport the plant pollen with scopae (specialized, sticky hairs) located on their outer hind legs inward towards the sides of the thorax, giving them the appearance of wearing pantaloons. These small and agile native bees are just the ticket for accessing and pollinating those little upside-down flowers. Like aerial acrobats, they fly underneath the reflexed, outer sepals, grasp the smaller, pink-white, inward rolled petals and then hang under the styles and anthers, while sipping the nectar and gathering the pollen.




