By Martha Berthelsen This article was originally published in 2013. The photos in this article differ from the original article. Most mornings, I go into my garden early and hand-pollinate my zucchini using a tiny paintbrush. Despite the overall decline of honey bees due to Colony Collapse Disorder, there are actually many of them in my garden, thanks to a neighbor with a carefully tended hive. Why aren't these bees doing their job? It's because while honey bees can pollinate squash, they aren't very good at it. The best pollinator for squash, aptly named the squash bee, is native to the …
What's in Your Watershed
What’s in Your Watershed? |Gorgeous and Poisonous: The Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly
By Martha Berthelsen This is a What’s in Your Watershed? archive edition, meaning it was originally published back in 2014 and it to this day one of our most popular articles. Photos differ from the original article. The iridescent blue-black pipevine swallowtail butterfly will only lay her eggs on the California Dutchman's-pipe vine, and I was delighted when one of them chose the plant in my backyard this March. The caterpillars that hatched a few weeks later were tiny and seemed fragile, but their vibrant black and orange colors accented with spiny protrusions give a clear warning …
Ravenous and Deadly | The California Praying Mantis
The following is one of our most popular What’s In Your Watershed articles in the Ebb and Flow archive. It was written by Luis Martinez. It was a hot humid afternoon, just another workday in the Richmond Greenway Bioswale for The Watershed Project's Green Collar Corps. I was tending the trees when something caught my eye in one of the leafs in a maple tree. At first glance this leaf looked unusually slender and kind of beat up-as if it had been chewed on by a pest. But as I got closer, I noticed this "leaf" was not a part of the tree but a Praying Mantis. Stagmomantis californica, …
What’s in Your Watershed: Life in Our Streams
By Olivia Rose The San Francisco Bay Watershed connects communities across more than 75,000 square miles throughout the state of California, and just tickles the southeast corner of Oregon. From the Sierra Nevada mountains down to the San Francisco Bay and ocean, this watershed provides drinking water for more that 25 million people, and is home to countless numbers of nonhuman living plants, insects, birds, fish, and animals. So how can we ensure that these communities, connected by water, are thriving and healthy? Well first, as with any good relationship, we need to check in first to see …
What’s in your Watershed: Olympia Oysters
By Eric Hyman Don’t let the name fool you. Though most commonly referred to by the same name as the capital city on Washington state’s Puget Sound, Ostrea lurida, or the Olympia oyster, is native to the entire West Coast, from northern Baja up through British Columbia into southern Alaska. It also has the distinction of being the only oyster species native to our coast, as the two more commonly grown (and eaten) species, miyagis [Crassostrea gigas] and kumamotos [Crassostrea sikamea], are both Japanese imports brought to California in the early to mid 20th century. Those in …
Hello, Squirrels
By Gabriela Suarez I live in Richmond and now realize the squirrels I see in my area are the western grey squirrels, I watch them while I wait for the bus sometimes and they follow me around when they’re able to smell my lunch - this makes me see them as interesting, bold creatures that are delightful yet intimidating. Sometimes they play and at other times they look busy as they forage for food for four to six hours a day, with the balance of the day spent lounging or sleeping. There are a handful of squirrel species in California, but they can be separated into two distinct …
One Bee, Two Bee, I See a Green Bee
Article By Dan Kirk While last month we focused on one type of pollinator, the butterfly, this month we will focus on the most famous pollinator of them all: the bee. Like potatoes, you may only know a few species, or at least recognize a few species. And, like potatoes, there are around 4,000 types of bee species, 1,600 of them being native to California (this is not true of potatoes). Out of those 1,600 species, there is one you may not assume is a bee, and it's name is Agapostemon texanus, or the green sweat bee. The females are bright metallic green, and you may just see one land on …
Who is Fluttering Around You?
By Dan Kirk Close your eyes and think about the last butterfly you saw; where were you? Was it sitting on a host plant? Were you sitting on a host plant? Did it hit up against your windshield as you were driving or did it flutter right past your face? When was the last time you had butterflies in your stomach? If you don’t have any memory of a recent butterfly spotting, then keep your eyes peeled. There are around 145 butterfly species in the Bay Area and many of them are out and about! Butterflies are awesome for a few reasons, firstly being that they are pollinators, helping to …
