Hello, and welcome to InverteCast.
I am Leah from Tarantia Leah, and today, unfortunately, Nat is not feeling very well, so he is not
going to be joining us in the InverteCast today, although there is a possibility that he might
join later.
I never know with him.
In any case, today, we will be discussing pollinators and exactly what they are, what
they do, why they are important to us, and all things pollinators.
So let's get into it.
P pollinators are creatures that include birds, bats, insects, butterflies, and pretty much
any small mammal based there responsible for one in every bite of food that you take, and
that is worldwide.
So these invertebrates are incredibly crucial to just the global economy, or not economy,
but ecosystem and basically our food supply.
So pollinators are pretty important, obviously.
So what makes a pollinator a pollinator is that it travels from plant to plant carrying
pollinators on their bodies.
And this allows for the transfer of genetic materials that are critical for reproduction
of most flowering plants.
So yeah.
So these plants also bring countless fruits, vegetables, and nuts if the world, half of
the world's oils are also produced through these pollinators and pollinating plants.
That's pretty amazing.
They also help with preventing soil erosion, and they also help to produce like, like,
the effects of, like, decrease the effects of carbon in the atmosphere.
So again, very important to the ecosystem and the world.
So pollinators, let's get into it as we already are.
So they provide services of pollination.
These creatures, too, they provide these pollination services to 180,000 different plant species
across the entire world, and 1,200 of those are crops.
So you know, vegetables, fruits, nuts, things that we eat that grow out of the ground.
And right now, populations are declining.
Of these pollinators, their populations are declining because they're losing their feeding
and nesting habitats, pollution, misuse of chemicals, and just all sorts of horrible
thing, changes in climate patterns, and so on and so forth.
So I actually found all of this wonderful information on pollinators on a website called,
I believe, pollinators.org, and on that website, there are a lot of really great little tips
and things that you can do to actually help pollinators in your region right there in
your own backyard.
So if, you know, if you plant tomatoes or say, you know, cucumbers or something like
that, that is actually really beneficial to those pollinators because it helps bring them
to your yard.
So you're going to get really great views of these cool little creatures.
You're also going to be helping the environment and the ecosystem and, of course, these pollinators
because they do rely on these plants and crops pretty heavily.
So yes, Kerry, global warming is affecting pollinators as well as pretty much any other
species on Earth, but these guys are probably the most critical creatures that are being
affected by climate change, which is pretty awful.
So we are going to talk about pollinators, obviously, but we're going to specify on the
invertebrate pollinators.
So that would include honey bees, bumble bees, butterflies and moths, wasps, flies and beetles,
and I believe also ants.
Some species of ants are also pollinators in the world.
So let's get into it.
Honey bees worldwide, there are 20,000 species of bees and 3,600 of those are native to the
states and Canada.
So quite a few bees out there, and we all know that bees produce honey and they do pollinate
clearly like we see them all the time at flowers and stuff like that.
So they are really pretty important to the pollination.
So they are actually the most important population of pollinators in the world.
And right now, again, like their populations have been declining over the past several
years.
So they're important pollinators of wild flowering plants and crops.
They're able to fly at, or bubble bees are able to fly at lower temps and lower light
saturation.
So what that means is they can fly for a longer duration throughout the day rather than relying
heavily on the light from sunshine.
So they can fly like later in the evening, so about dusk and stuff.
So bumble bees are also able to thrive at higher altitudes.
And they do something that is known as buzz pollination.
And that involves essentially that they grasp a flower or a plant with their jaws and they
vibrate their wing muscles.
And this helps dislodge all that pollen.
And then it actually helps them to grab all that pollen from off of the plants and whatnot.
And then the plants benefit from it.
So some of the plants that do benefit from bumble bee pollination are wildflowers, tomatoes,
peppers, and cranberries.
These are just a few examples of some of the plants and crops that benefit from bumble
bee buzz pollination.
And if you know bumble bees, they are those cute little fat, fluffy guys that fly kind
of slowly.
They almost seem kind of clumsy, but they are really, really important to the world of pollination.
All right.
Next up, we've got butterflies and moths.
So 19% of butterflies and moths in the US are at risk of extinction.
So that means their population numbers have dropped significantly to a point where they
have almost disappeared off of the face of the earth.
This again is really bad news for farmers and anybody who has crops or maybe you have
a garden in your yard.
Those butterflies and moths are vital for the pollination, obviously.
So this also includes the monarch butterfly, which is probably one of the most famous butterflies
in the world.
Everybody knows the monarch butterfly, that beautiful yellow and orange coloration with
those black stripes.
Another pollinator are wasps.
So yes, Carrie, I'm answering your next question here.
Do wasps pollinate or are they just pesky jerks?
Well, they do pollinate and sometimes they are kind of pesky jerks.
So wasps are adept hunters with a bad rep.
So they keep the insect, other insect populations in check and they keep it in balance.
And that's really great and they also provide incidental pollination through their hunting.
So what that means is as they are flying from plant to plant, they are also like getting
pollen and flower matter and whatnot on their own bodies as well as the bodies of the insects
that they're hunting.
And so through that, as they fly, they're going to be dropping those bits of pollen and whatnot
through the area that they're flying through.
And so that's what we call incidental pollination.
The next pollinator on my list here is flies.
So apparently they have a purpose.
Sometimes I think a lot of us get really, really annoyed at flies.
We see them as pests.
We see them as pesky little critters that are just not so much fun to have around, especially
not in your house or anything like that.
But flies do play an important role in pollination.
So there are 85,000 species of flies worldwide.
They are reviled as crop killers and carriers of disease, which unfortunately is not entirely
true.
As you could see, like having flies on this list of pollinators, then clearly they actually
serve a very important purpose.
So maybe it'll make you think twice about those flies that swarm your kitchen a little
bit.
If only we could catch them and release them outside.
Anyway, they actually serve as a really great food source for migratory birds and other
pollinators.
And they also help to pollinate certain plants like apples, peppers, mangoes, and cashews.
So a lot of nuts are on this list.
I wonder if anyone can tell me why the nuts, like peanuts, cashews, those kinds of nuts
are on this list.
That's pretty fascinating.
And the last pollinator on my list are beetles.
So these guys, beetles, are the most diverse group of organisms in the entire world.
So clearly they play a huge role in pollinating and being pollinators.
So one in every four species of plant, animal, bacterium, or fungus in the world is actually
a beetle.
So that's pretty astonishing if you ask me.
And we believe that they were the first insect pollinators of the Jurassic era, like the late
Jurassic era, which was 150 million years ago.
So beetles have been around the world for a very, very long time.
They also help to pollinate magnolias and water lilies.
Now magnolias, to me, are very important because I use dried magnolia leaves in my enclosures
with my tarantulas.
So keeping magnolias around is just the best.
Make your mind up on which day.
What?
Hi.
Did we post it funny?
Did I mistake something?
I must have mistaken something.
So let me go ahead and show that one from Santa Assignment at the Mantis Garden.
He must be confused as to what day we were going live.
I actually really prefer to go live every week.
Obviously, we try to keep that really consistent just because it's better for our audience
and our people who follow us.
So what are your thoughts on pollinators?
Well, you were expecting Sunday.
Oh, OK.
Well, shucks.
I apologize for that, Simon.
It is to date.
So without pollinators, we wouldn't have all the wonderful things that we have at food,
like cranberries and tomatoes, peppers.
I use a lot of tomatoes and peppers in my cooking.
One of my neighbors actually grows tomatoes.
So recently, I've been seeing a lot of dragonflies around.
And I also just recently saw a bumblebee in my yard just kind of floating around.
And I was really, really surprised because I know that right now, bumblebees are definitely
on that threatened species list of pollinators that their populations are dwindling.
But I believe there's been a really, really wonderful program here in Colorado where I
have that was headed by the butterfly pavilion.
And they had a whole program just dedicated to pollinators.
And so because of that, they've been really helping to produce a lot of bumblebees and
honeybees and just these pollinating creatures like butterflies and mobs.
I don't believe that they actually release butterflies and mobs into the wilds of Colorado,
but they are certainly there.
And they also just recently were able to hatch the very first captive, bred and born lightning
bugs here in Colorado at the butterfly pavilion.
So pretty amazing stuff with these invertebrates.
I think that they are really quite fascinating, especially since they play such a vital role.
And what that means for us, it means a lot.
They contribute to the global economy in ways that we could never understand because of
the crops and the flowers that they help to pollinate and produce that it's just a huge
major part of the ecosystem and the global economy.
All right, question from Carrie.
Let's see here.
He asks, the beehive at the butterfly pavilion has been active since 1935.
It was saved from the original botanic garden.
That's fascinating.
Thank you so much for that bit of information, Carrie.
I actually didn't know that.
That's really, really amazing.
I wholeheartedly support the butterfly pavilion here in Colorado just for that reason.
I know that they have that big, beautiful honey hive.
And who doesn't like honey?
I love honey.
I like to put honey on pretty much anything like bread wise or I even will put honey on
pizza.
We do have a pizza place here that is also native to Colorado that puts honey in their
crust.
So honey, again, is a product of those pollinators, of those honey bees.
And so because of that, it's just really, really great to support honey and the honey
bees and hopefully those beekeepers and beehives in the world.
Mantids love honey.
Oh, I totally agree.
As do most arthropods.
Yes, honey is really, really rich actually in antioxidants.
And it is also known to be like a natural antibacterial.
So that's also another really, really great benefit of honey from those beautiful honey
bees in the world.
And Carrie is saying it's amazing to think the generation of bees making honey.
Oh, thousands, hundreds of thousands of generations of bees probably go into making like two or
three years worth of honey production.
So it is pretty fascinating to think about how many bees it really takes to create a
honey, like a honeycomb and whatnot.
Bees are super, super, super, super vital to the world.
I thought that I had, you know, gathered up a whole bunch of information, but unfortunately
I think I'm running out.
I am so sorry, my friends.
It's kind of difficult without a co-host, you know, to kind of go back and forth with
about, you know, talking about pollinators and whatnot.
But thankfully I have my amazing audience.
You guys are wonderful.
Simon from the Mantis Garden says, I have a friend that wrote a book about bees.
Can't remember her surname or the book's name.
Oh, well, that's okay.
We'll figure it out later.
I'm sure we could find them.
And yeah.
But in any case, bees obviously are probably the most popular pollinators that most people
know about.
They are super prevalent all throughout the world.
Obviously, as I said before, what did I say before about, yeah, 20,000 species of bees
worldwide.
So that's pretty incredible.
And they, you know, they're seen as kind of pesky.
They do have stingers and whatnot.
But actually most pollinating bees don't have stingers.
So like bumblebees do not have stingers.
And I believe honeybees are also a whole bunch of species, there's a whole bunch of species
of honeybees that don't have stingers at all.
So here he says, it's important to support local beekeepers selling beeswax candles and
honey because their work helps support life around you.
Absolutely.
Bees and the work of beekeepers and whatnot really do help to support all the beauty that
is around you.
Even if you live in Lincoln, Nebraska, there is still so much beauty around that area,
like the wheat and the grasses that the grass species and whatnot that live in those regions
that are native to those regions really, really rely on these pollinators to continue to thrive.
So absolutely.
And also, Carrie says, did you know that the butterfly pavilion rent out pollinator bee
hives?
I did not know that.
That's really cool.
Obviously, it's only local here to Colorado, but that is a really, really awesome fact
about bees that you can rent out a pollinating bee hive.
So I'll have to look into doing that in the future.
Obviously, I'll make a video about it.
And so hopefully, I'll let you guys know.
I'll have to update you guys on my adventures with that.
Otherwise, that is it.
But I know they would rent.
I had gotten you a bee hive.
Obviously, Carrie is my partner.
So I just recently had a birthday.
And so that's a really great birthday idea for me.
Thank you, Carrie.
I appreciate that.
That's really sweet.
But yeah, so everybody knows about bees, like bobo bees and bee hives.
They know about the honeycomb and all of that thing.
And did you know that honey is truly, truly amazing because it will help if you ever get
like strep throat or a real itchy sore throat.
You can actually use a tablespoon of honey, a little bit of cayenne pepper and some minced
up garlic.
All three of those things, you mix them together and you eat that spoonful.
It might not taste the best, but that's what the honey's for.
The honey will actually coat your throat and kind of smooth it out.
The cayenne pepper is that spicy pepper, so it will bring heat and red blood cells or
white blood cells to the area.
And garlic is a natural antibacterial and anti, what's the word I'm looking for, antiseptic
type, anti-infection, you know, it's, yeah, anti-inflammatory.
So yeah, just that one little teaspoon of natural ingredients will definitely help that
sore strep throat.
But among other things, beetles are also super important.
Another pollinator that's super important, beetles.
We know that there are dung beetles in the world that actually eat dung or kaka, poo-poo,
which is wonderful.
I am forgetting about other pollinators.
Will you tell me about what some of those other pollinators might be, Simon?
I would appreciate that.
I know that there are some ant species that are also pollinators.
And I believe dragonflies are also considered pollinators, but I'm sure that there are quite
a few other inverts that I'm forgetting are pollinators.
Yes.
Let's see.
Shady things.
Hello, Shady.
Welcome to the podcast.
We're talking about pollinators.
I bought a bunch of carpenter bees to hatch in our garden a few years ago.
No way.
Oh, I love that.
That's really amazing.
So there you are.
Shady is also doing wonderful things to help pollinators in her local region, which is,
you know, we all want to save the world, of course.
We all want to help the environment and help climate change and all those things.
But because most of us are just kind of normal people and live in our everyday lives, we
only have so much reach.
But our reach is still very, very important because at that local level, you can really,
really affect real change.
And you can bring pollinators back into the world just by doing simple, small little things
around your yard, around your house.
So like I know here in Colorado, planting marigolds and lavender, you know, flowers like that
will actually really help pollinators like bumblebees and honeybees around the areas.
And then also another wonderful thing that you can do is, you know, in those early spring
months when most people are, you know, starting to clean up their yards and getting everything
all nice and beautiful.
Really if you wait until about the end of May, early June to do any of that, you are
going to be helping pollinators like bumblebees that actually nest on the ground.
So they use, you know, the leaf litter and foliage that's on the ground as their nests.
Because again, that a lot of people think that they live up in trees, but that's just
not true.
They actually live right on the ground, right next to you.
So trying to avoid cleaning up all of that leaf litter and foliage, maybe some broken
branches that came down during the winter actually really, really helps those bumblebees
and honeybees.
And yeah, so yeah, I'm really interested about the carpenter bees, Chady things.
This is fascinating.
I'm sure that again, like the 20,000 species of bees that are around the world, I mean,
they're all just absolutely vital.
So yeah, I came in late.
I thought this was something that yes, there must have been some misunderstanding and I
apologize for that guys.
But I believe that from now on, we should be doing Saturday.
If not, we will be sure to make that a lot more clear in the future.
Again, another thing that pollinators are really important for is some of them are cleanup
crew, like I was saying with dung beetles that, you know, they will roll up balls of
poo and that's what they eat.
And so because of that, again, they're kind of that incidental pollinating, just like
the wasps are.
I'd also believe that yellow jackets are also pollinators and a lot of ant species are as
well.
I'm pretty sure carpenter ants are a pollinator just because, you know, when they're out foraging
for food and stuff, they will probably gather some of that pollen and move it around with
them as they're traveling on their trails.
Mobs do pollinate Kerry, yes.
I thought they just ate your clothes.
Well, I do believe that mobs do like prefer to eat fibrous things.
So that is why we do tend to find mobs like in our clothing and the closet.
But no, they are pollinators.
So fibrous things being like oats and wheat, you know, flour, like the wheat that we make
flour with, that's what mobs are actually after.
And so that's how they pollinate.
I believe they also go for certain grasses.
Don't hold me to that because I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure they're.
And Shaper beetles are a good one.
Thank you, Simon from the Mantis Garden.
I love that.
And then what do you think they ate before clothes?
Yeah, absolutely.
Probably cotton because cotton, as we know, is a very flowery plant here.
And it is very widely produced throughout the States.
I know that.
And so cotton is a very fibrous material.
And so definitely something that the mobs would want to eat is that cotton.
So it makes sense that we find them in our clothes every now and then.
Actually this year here in Colorado was very prevalent for miller mobs.
We had a whole lot of miller mobs just all over the place.
And it was actually really wonderful to see them.
I mean, some of us consider them kind of pesky, you know, but they're friendly.
They're not scary.
Let's see.
So have flies pollinate almost as much as bees?
See, and that is another thing that I didn't know, Simon.
I know that flies are pollinators, but I also know that they play a very vital role in being
food for migratory birds.
And birds are also a type of pollinator.
But being that this is the invertecast, we're going to keep it to inverts.
Sorry, guys.
I'm not going to talk about birds, but because they are a food source for other pollinators,
that is a pretty big deal.
But flies also, I mean, I don't even know exactly what they eat, but I have seen them
a lot around plants and flowers.
So that is really, really important that flies are pollinators.
And a lot of accidental pollination as well, absolutely, through humans, even.
I know here, and like I said in Colorado, we have a lot of wildflowers.
So in the spring and summer months, a lot of people love to go up kind of in the mountains
to go look at all the beautiful foliage that appears, you know, once a year or so.
And the wildflowers obviously are producing that pollen that the bumblebees and honeybees
and dragonflies and all of these butterflies and beautiful pollinators are attracted to.
And so as the people are going up into the mountains and going on the mountain trails,
their bodies and their clothing and whatnot are going to be brushing up against those
plants.
And because of that, they are probably going to get a little bit of pollen on their bodies.
And as they're walking along, that pollen will slowly kind of drop off with their bodies
and clothing and whatnot.
And so, yes, they are accidental pollinators.
Absolutely.
Small mammals is also another pollinator, but possibly accidental pollinators.
So like moles and mole rats, probably some prairie dogs as well.
And we have a lot of prairie dogs around here.
Stoats, possibly, over in the UK.
I know stoats are possibly a small mammal that could be considered a pollinator.
And yeah, so a lot of creatures are very vital to being pollinators.
And it's really, really important for us to know these things just so that we can be aware
of the effects that we can have from a day to day, just a day to day lifestyle.
Like I said, waiting to clean up all the leaflet or around your yard, that's a big one, especially
for those bumblebees.
Planting flowers and plants that are vital for those bumblebees and honeybees and stuff
that is really, really wonderful, again, for those pollinators.
And to be honest, it benefits everyone all around because not only are you planting these
beautiful plants and these beautiful flowers, and it's fun to watch them bloom and they
have these wonderful colors, but you're also going to see these pollinators coming about.
So like the butterflies and the moths and bumblebees and honeybees and beetles and stuff, just
the wonderful nature, the wonderful color and foliage of these beautiful creatures is
really worth doing, the little bit of gardening that it takes.
It really doesn't take much at all.
I know tomatoes are really easy to grow.
They are kind of like growing like weeds.
And so, but they do take quite a bit of water and quite a bit of sunshine, but they are
well worth it just for those butterflies and bumblebees.
Yeah, absolutely.
I have a full on security team for clothes beaders.
I agree.
I do agree.
I love our security team.
I agree all of our audience is fantastic.
You guys are fantastic.
And just all around wonderful.
I really appreciated that everybody coming out talking about some pollinators with us.
And I hope that you guys check out the pollinators.org website because there are a lot of really
fun and easy to do tips on what you can do just within your own local region to help
pollinators, another website that I found that also has a few really great tips is Xerxes.org,
which is spelled Z-E-R-C-E-S.org.
If you check out these websites, they are packed full of information on pollinators,
tips and wonderful things that you can do around your house and around your yard or
just around those neighborhoods, let's say, that can help pollinators and brighten up
your neighborhood a little more and brighten up your day.
And let's see.
So yeah, that's wonderful.
That's about all I've got on pollinators.
I hope you guys enjoyed it.
I am so sorry that Nat couldn't join us today.
Again, he just wasn't feeling very well.
But I hope that it was very informative and I hope you guys enjoyed it.
And if you have any questions or comments, again, feel free to leave them down in the
comments.
This video will be up forever on InverteCast YouTube page.
So feel free to like and subscribe.
And I'm going to add my own little shameless plug.
This week I released a video called Back to School Edition to Ranchalia and I did a breakfast
club theme.
So if you are interested, check it out because I paired up tarantulas with the characters
from Breakfast Club.
And yeah, so that's about all I got.
I will see you guys next week, hopefully on Saturday, but we will know for sure.
All the love.
Thank you so much for joining InverteCast.
We'll see you guys next time.