The Illawarra is abuzz with talk of native bees and insect pollinators at the moment! In the coming days there's not one but two awesome events coming up, one focusing on native bees, and one on native bees and pollination more broadly.
It's no wonder there's so much interest, because native pollinators are essential to the web of life, pollinating many of the plants we eat and many more that are important to other animals. And sadly, native bees and other insects and invertebrates are under threat, with 1-3 species becoming extinct each week in Australia alone. People are understandably concerned, and want to learn more about these important native insects.
The huge diversity of pollinator relationships is a fascinating topic in its own right. For example, many native orchids have developed extremely complex relationships with pollinators, such as mimicking the appearance (and even the scent) of female fungus gnats to encourage 'pseudopollination' by males. And each species of fig is pollinated by only one (or a few) species of wasp. Meanwhile, some plants are pollinated by many different insects, such as some Tea Trees (Leptospermum sp.), where pollinators may include native beetles, bees, butterflies, flies and wasps.
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| This picture taken by Alison Mellor shows a Lipotriches bee pollinating a Blue Flax-lily (Dianella caerulea) flower. Many Dianella species are buzz-pollinated by native bees. Image courtesy of Alison Mellor. |
One of the major threats facing native insects comes from feral (introduced) honey bees Apis mellifera in Australia. Pollination ecologist Dr Amy Gilpin's research includes a focus on the impacts of this economically important but ecologically problematic species. At a Talking Landcare event on 24 July, Amy will explain some of these impacts, such as out-competing native bees and other pollinators for pollen, and genetic effects on native plants. She'll explore what we can do to support native pollinators and pollination systems. For example, using local plants, and especially plants of local provenance, in both home gardening and bush regeneration is one thing that everyone can do.
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| Amy Gilpin out in the field, in a very diverse grassy woodland plant community. Image courtesy of Amy Gilpin. |
Meanwhile Alison Mellor from Paperbark Native Bees will address the Talking Landcare meeting on all things bees and citizen science. Alison's presentation will help participants to build skills in spotting and identifying native bees, and to choose plants that will encourage different kinds of native bees. She'll also introduce the world of NatureMapr, where citizen scientists (established or budding) can upload sightings of native insects (or other species) and get support with expert identification.
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| A Reed Bee and a Masked Bee together on a Syzygium (cultivar). Image courtesy of Alison Mellor. |
And Dr James Dorey author of Bees of Australia: A Photographic Exploration, is giving a separate talk at the University of Wollongong this Sunday afternoon. He will be sharing his journey to become a bee lover, as well as bits of research and awesome macro photographs.
Upcoming events:
Talking Landcare: Native Pollinators, with Dr Amy Gilpin and Alison Mellor (Thursday 24 July): https://events.humanitix.com/talking-landcare-native-pollinators
Australian Native Bees with James Dorey (Sunday 20 July): https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/australian-native-bees-with-james-dorey-live-in-wollongong-tickets-1405389561009
Further Reading:
Benson D & McDougall L (1998), Ecology of Sydney Plant Species: Part 6 Dicotyledon Family Myrtaceae, Cunninghamiana, Vol. 5(4) pp808-987.
Biodiversity Council (2024) New study finds Australia's extinction tally is far greater than previously recognised, media release 9 December 2024, accessible at https://biodiversitycouncil.org.au/news/australia-extinction-tally-greater-than-previously-recognised.
Bradhurst M (2020), Trickery, mimicry and deceit of orchids in the wild. Australian Native Plants NSW, accessible at https://resources.austplants.com.au/stories/trickery-mimicry-and-deceit-of-orchids-in-the-wild/.
Reid C (2022), A world within a fig, The Illawarra Flame, accessible at https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/science--nature/a-world-within-a-fig.
Segar S, Dunn D, Darwell CT, Cook JM (2014), How to be a fig wasp down under: The diversity and structure of an Australian fig wasp community. Acta Oecologica 57, pp17-27, accessible at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2013.03.014.
Woinarski JCZ, Braby MF, Gibb H, et al (2004), This is the way the world ends; not with a bang but a whimper: Estimating the number and ongoing rate of extinctions of Australian non-marine invertebrates. Cambridge Prisms: Extinction. 2024;2:e23 accessible at doi:10.1017/ext.2024.26.
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