For #PollinatorWeek2021 we’re excited to showcase some fun info about bee pollinators, especially ones we work with in the López-Uribe Lab. Today is all about squash bees!

A thread: Image
Squash bees are ground nesting solitary bees that pollinate plants in the genus Cucurbita, such as pumpkins, squash, zucchini, and other gourds. Image
Squash bees do look similar to honey bees but ecologically they are very different. Honey bees live in huge hives and squash bees are solitary. Here are tips to help you tell them apart Image
There are 22 species of squash bees! Image
Squash bees have expanded across North America in the last 5000 years along with the domestication of a variety of the plants they pollinate.

More about that in our 2016 research paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.10… Image
Squash bees spend most of their life underground feeding on the pollen their mother gathered for them. Image
If you'd like to learn more about squash bees check out the booklet we put together on them: lopezuribelab.com/squash-bee-bio…
That's all about squash bees for now, learn more about our research at our website :) lopezuribelab.com Image

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More from @lopezuribelab

24 Jun
For day 4 of #PollinatorWeek2021 we are going to look at bee biodiversity.

Below is a thread giving just a small taste of the vast variety of shapes, colors, and behaviors among the more than 20,000 bee species in the world.

#PollinatorWeek

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In Pennsylvania there are over 400 species of bees, in the US there are over 4000.

A survey of the general public found that "only 14%
of people were able to guess within 1000 the actual number of bee species in the US" digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewconten…

#PollinatorWeek2021
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Roughly 70% of bee species nest in the ground, that's true around the world, and here in Pennsylvania.
#PollinatorWeek #PollinatorWeek2021
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Read 12 tweets
23 Jun
Day 3 of #PollinatorWeek and we want to highlight one reason why bee pollinators are important: they pollinate our crops and food!

Below are some fun facts about crop pollinators:

#PollinatorWeek2021
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With over 90 different crops relying on bees for their pollination services, we have to take a moment this week to thank a bee for the food on our tables.
#PollinatorWeek2021
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Here are a variety of crops that 50% or more of their yield is dependent on pollinators, we would probably not have these foods without our insect friends!
#PollinatorWeek2021
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Read 10 tweets
22 Jun
It’s day 2 of #PollinatorWeek and we’re celebrating the queen bees and her hives, honey bees!

Below is a thread of fun facts about honey bees.

#PollinatorWeek2021

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Honey bees are eusocial, they live in hives of thousands of bees but only the queen lays eggs.

The amount of eggs laid by a queen in a single day can weigh more than her own weight!

#PollinatorWeek2021

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Honey bees can beat their wings over 11,000 times per minute, that is twice the rate of hummingbird's wings.

#PollinatorWeek2021

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Read 7 tweets

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