Pollination deception: Manitoba’s lady’s slipper orchids
Small white lady's-slipper (Photo by Melissa Grantham)
In Manitoba we have several species of lady’s slipper orchids, but the two I am most interested in, and have researched, are the yellow lady’s slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) and the provincially endangered small white lady’s...
Beetles: Nature's mess and soil pollinators
Soldier beetle (Photo © Stephen Luk)
Pollinators are extremely important. Not only are they responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat, but they are vital in creating and maintaining the habitats and ecosystems on which many animals rely for food and...
Moths and butterflies: What we're doing to help these little-known pollinators
Sphinx moth (Photo © Manitoba Museum)
Bees are well known for their ability to pollinate flowers but there are other pollinators out there, including moths and butterflies. Moths pollinate flowers both during the day and at night. This summer, Nature Conservancy (NCC) staff will be...
It's the great pumpkin pollinator! Meet the squash bee
Female squash bee on a male pumpkin flower (Photo by Margaret Chan)
At my house, Halloween is a frenzy of pumpkins — those lovely globes that throb with the vitality of summer. We carve them into frightening orange-skinned, ghoulish-grinned beasts set aglow by the light of beeswax candles. I fell in love...
