Last summer, Sydney Lonker (White Plains HS) and Madeline Bueher (Pelham HS) began studying the pollinator assemblages at three of the Preserve’s meadows. The abundance and diversity of the bees and other insect pollinators found at each meadow will help MRG determine if our restoration and management of these areas is providing habitat for the largest variety of species.
Bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, beetles, wasps, and flies can all pollinate flowers, but bee species pollinate flowers more often than any other group. Bees are a diverse group of insects that include four thousand species native to North America alone. Basically, bees can be described as either social or solitary nesters, with the solitary nesters comprising the vast majority of native bees.
From bumble bees and honey bees (social) to sweat bees and leaf-cutter bees (solitary), these fascinating creatures are responsible for pollinating a wide array of attractive flowers. They are particularly attracted to blue, purple, and yellow flowers with sweet fragrances.
The specimens Sydney and Madeline collected were contributed to the Empire State Native Pollinator Survey (https://www.nynhp.org/pollinators). They are hoping to be able to continue their project in the meadows this summer.
Click here to view Sydney’s video or click here to view Maddie’s video describing the project and their experience as a high school student in MRG’s Wildlife Technician Program.
MRG’s Wildlife Technician Program is a competitive internship program offering high school students the opportunity to undertake a three-year research project in the natural sciences. Our innovative and far reaching program was the first of its kind in the New York Metropolitan area offering an extra-curricular high school program in ecological research.
To learn more about the Wildlife Technician Program and MRG’s award-winning education programs for undergraduate and graduate students, please visit www.mianus.org. To learn more about attracting pollinators to your backyard, please call (914)234-3455 or email info@mianus.org to request a brochure.