Highlighting Utah’s Pollinators!

Hey there!

Can you believe that the 2024 City Nature Challenge starts tomorrow?! We cannot wait to get out and observe the wonderful nature that Utah’s Wasatch has to offer. From the alpine mountaintops to the sandy shores of Great Salt Lake, and everything in between, nature has a wonderful way of presenting itself in the most delightful ways.

As we slow down over the next four days, I encourage you to look not just for the big and flashy, but for the charismatic microfauna that often go unnoticed in the grand landscapes of the west: Utah’s Pollinators!

Bees, butterflies, beetles, flies, moths, hummingbirds, bats, ants, and more! These pollinating species play a critical role in our ecosystems and are responsible for the reproduction of 85% of the world’s flowering plants.

Insects are responsible for the majority of pollination that affects our daily lives, and accounted for 183 species (21%) of last year’s Utah’s Wasatch City Nature Challenge observations!

Here are some of our favorite insect observations from the 2023 City Nature Challenge:

• This Desert Marble shared by Kayla Echols
• This Hairy Bear Scarab Beetle observed by Todd Black
• And this Western Tiger Swallowtail by Kiss Jacobson

Tips for observing:

1. Get out early, stay out late: The best times to observe pollinators are in the ‘shoulder-hours’ of the days when they are just warming up and may be a bit slower moving.
2. Sit still: it’s amazing how when you sit in a place for long enough, you begin to notice all the small things happening around you. Find a spot in your garden, local park, or nearby hiking trail to enjoy the hum and buzz of pollinator peace.
3. Videos are your friend: Fast moving pollinators can be tricky to capture in a photo, so my favorite way to document for ID is by taking a video of the species as it moves about, screenshotting, and cropping so the insect is the focus of the shot.

Nature and its small wonders are all around us, and we hope you get a chance to appreciate the tiny critters that make life on earth amazing over the next four days.

What pollinators will you observe? 🐝🦋🐞

Sierra Hastings
Communications & Development Specialist
Sageland Collaborative

Posted on April 25, 2024 06:26 PM by sierramh