Birthday Giveaway!
Today is Pollinators Info’s 1-year birthday!
To celebrate, I’m giving away FREE copies of the Pollinated Sweets e-book to the first 10 people to ask a pollinator-related question that they’d like to see answered on the site!
All you’ve got to do is ask your question in the comments section below, and send me an email (athenarayne@yahoo.com) letting me know what question was yours. If you’re one of the first 1o people, I’ll email you a .pdf of the e-book FREE!
Thanks so much for visiting the site, and I’d love to hear from you in the next year!
Best wishes,
Athena
6 comments May 13, 2012
USFWS Endangered Pollinators page
If you’d like to learn more about endangered pollinators all over the world, check out the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Pollinators Page!
Endangered pollinators on the page are grouped into mammals, birds, butterflies and moths, and other insects. You can learn more about each pollinator, including its threatened status, by clicking on its scientific name.
While you’re there, have a look at the other resources about pollinators, including podcasts and videos!
Have you used this site before? Share your opinion about it in the comments below!
Read related posts in the Endangered category, and get free goodies when you subscribe to the free pollinators.info e-newsletter!
Learn some of your native pollinators, and how to help them by creating habitat, in the Xerces Society’s wonderful guide, Attracting Native Pollinators
Add comment May 10, 2012
Guide to native Colorado bees- document
This free downloadable guide from Applewood Seed Company gives you a great introduction to the native bees of Colorado and the surrounding area. The 6-page guide does not include life history information, but you can use it to help identify the bees that visit your garden, and get more information about them from other sources.
Download the document here: Colorado native bees.
Learn more in the Bees category, and get more free information in the Downloads category.
There’s even more free stuff waiting for you when you subscribe to the free pollinators.info e-newsletter!
Have you used this guide? Tell us what you think about it in the comments section!
Learn more about native bees and how to help them in the Xerces Society’s fabulous guide, Attracting Native Pollinators
Add comment May 5, 2012
Pollinator Habitat sign from the Xerces Society
Take a pledge to Bring Back the Pollinators and get a lovely “Pollinator Habitat” sign for your garden!
Signs like this can not only show your neighbors that you support pollinator conservation, but help to educate them too! When everyone wonders at your beautiful garden, full of butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and other native pollinators, you can teach them a little about the importance of pollinators to them and the rest of the world!
Visit the Xerces Society home page for information about their work, and read more about showing off your pollinator habitat by clicking on the image above!
Learn more about helping pollinators in the Actions category, and get fun freebies when you subscribe to the free pollinators.info e-newsletter!
How do you create a pollinator-friendly habitat? It’s easy when you’ve got the Xerces Society’s book, Attracting Native Pollinators
2 comments May 5, 2012
Pollinator Profile: Madeiran Wall Lizard
The Madeiran wall lizard, Lacerta dugesii, is native to the Madeira Islands of Portugal, but has also been accidentally introduced to the Azores. This species appears in habitats as diverse as rocky shorelines, home gardens, and temperate forests. This lizard is numerous and considered of least concern by the IUCN Red List.
Information about the Madeiran wall lizard’s life history is difficult to locate. I was able to find that individuals are typically around 2.3- 3.1 inches (60- 80 mm) long. They appear to be omnivorous, but there are several published records of Lacerta dugesii pollinating native plants.
For instance, Olesen and colleagues (see below) published what they think is the first record of lizard pollination in the Azores, involving Lacerta dugesii. They observed this species visiting the Azores bellflower (Azorina vidalii) in large numbers, eating nectar and pollen and becoming dusted with pollen in the process. They also reported this lizard climbing among, and feeding from, Musschia aurea, the Madeira giant bellflower.
Musschia aurea is endemic to Madeira and a few nearby islands, so further research should reveal whether the Madeiran wall lizard is important for maintaining its population health. Either way, here’s another fascinating example of lizards pollinating island flowers!
Reference: Pollination, biogeography, and phylogeny of oceanic island bellflowers (Campanulacea). Just click on the title to download the free .pdf!
Have you seen lizard pollinators? Tell us what you saw and where you were in the comments below!
Read more in the Pollinator Profiles and Reptiles categories, and score free stuff by signing up to get the free pollinators.info e-newsletter!
Get to know Lacerta dugesii and its reptiles neighbors in Rudolf Malkmus’ book, Amphibians and Reptiles of Portugal, Madeira and the Azores
Add comment April 28, 2012
