Wildflowers are in bloom across Ohio, with more showy stems set to appear in the month ahead.
Wildflowers need wildlife pollinator species to thrive, so today we’re highlighting bees as pollinators for our #WildlifeWednesday from Ohio Division of Wildlife.
There are thousands of species of wasps and bees in Ohio, all in the order Hymenoptera, which also includes ants.
Bees and wasps share many characteristics, and bees are essentially hairy vegetarian wasps.
Female bees usually sport a “scopa,” or dense brush of long hairs on each hind leg or the underside of the abdomen, for collecting pollen.
The social honeybees and bumblebees have a “pollen basket:” wide, flattened tarsal segments on the hind legs, fringed with long hairs, to collect balls of pollen and nectar. Learn more from the Common Bees of Ohio Field Guide: https://ohiodnr.gov/…/docum…/backyard-wildlife-documents
