Seaside Goldenrod and its pollinators

If you want to study bees and wasps and other pollen-collectors, find a patch of Seaside Goldenrod. This underrated wildflower is disliked because it is associated with hayfever but it gets this reputation simply because it has bad timing; it flowers exactly at the beginning of hayfever season. Hayfever pollen comes from plants with wind-blown pollen, the best-known of which is Ragweed which has green flowers that are hardly noticeable. On the other hand, Seaside Goldenrod, a hardy, almost succulent plant of sandy shores, erupts in numerous small daisy-like yellow flowers precisely in order to attract insect pollinators. In a post-Sandy environment the flowers are everywhere in open shore areas, forming gorgeous sprays that attract hordes of insect pollinators. And boy (or should I say 'girl'?) do they attract.

I originally went down to wander amidst the glorious goldenrod to look for butterflies but I only found a few skippers that were, as usual, difficult to separate out according to species. But there were bees and wasps everywhere. I could see that some of the honeybees had little yellow baskets of pollen on their legs. Some of the other bees may have had honey baskets as well but most of the insects that were crowding in to get the pollen appeared to be devouring it on the spot. And there were many other insects joining in the feast.

Of all the several different kinds of wild bees and wasps, the most striking were two largeish elongated jet black wasps. They had long narrow bodies and narrow wings that were glistening blue like the gorget of a hummingbird. One of them had blue marks stamped on its black body and a blue (or blueish) band around its abdomen. The other did not have these blue spots but had a yellow-and-black abdomen. I have no idea if these are two different forms of the same species or two different species nor could I find any evidence for what they might be in my limited insect library. Oh well, the more you look the more you find and the more you find, the more you realize what you do not know!

Eric Salzman