Global Pollinator Watch AIG 2024's Journal

As the sun sets, and most of the bees and butterflies and other pollinators find a safe space for the night, another crew heads out on their nightly nectar forays. In many parts of the world, bats are a part of this shift, and some flowers are entirely dependent upon them for providing critical pollination services. But there is another night team that scientists are learning more and more are also important for their work at night – the moths.

Moths may not be on our radar screens, though they certainly are for many insectivorous bats. We might see them gather around our porch lights by the dozens, street lights by the hundreds, or the monstrous lights at nighttime sporting events by the thousands. But they are also drawn to many species of wildflowers, flowering trees, ornamental plants, and even some agricultural crops. Our overwhelming use of artificial lighting actually draws them away from providing what may be essential ecological services.

The U.S. is home to about 12,000 species of butterflies and moths – together, the Lepidopterans – but only about 800 of those species are butterflies. The other 11,000+ are moths. At the global scale, moth species outnumber species of butterflies by about 9:1, and evidence suggests that butterflies actually evolved from moths to fill that daytime niche. And interestingly, some species of moths are also more active during the daytime. This includes hawkmoths, many of which resemble tiny hummingbirds.

Today, the role of moths as pollinators is still rather understudied. Recent studies in the Mediterranean, Brazil, New Zealand, Europe and North America point to their role being understated as well. Your observations of moths on flowers can help us better understand their role as pollinators. And this being National Moth Week, you can learn more about these denizens of the night here: https://nationalmothweek.org/ .

Have you ever wondered where your favorite chocolate comes from? Chocolate relies on pollinators to fertilize the cacao flowers, which turn into the beans we use to create it. While bees take care of most of the pollinating around the world, we can also thank our tiny friends, the biting or chocolate midge. Chocolate midges, part of the Ceratopogonidae family and in the order Diptera (flies), only get to be up to 3 millimeters (about 0.12 in) long and are the perfect size to pollinate cacao flowers. Found in parts of Central America, South America, Asia, and Africa, chocolate midges thrive at night and are drawn to the seventy-five different aromas present in the opened cacao flowers.

Midges, especially adult males, are famous for joining together in swarms. Drawn to the different sound frequencies of the females’ wingbeats, male midges have been known to react to humans clapping and singing. The whole swarm will ‘leap’ or ‘dance’ to the beat of your song or clap.

With over 800 species of midges in North America and more than 4,000 species worldwide, it is likely you will come across at least a few of them in your own neighborhood. As you collect observations for Global Pollinator Watch, don’t forget about some of the additional functions and information available on iNaturalist.

Using iNaturalist, not only are you able to identify what species you’re looking at, but you can learn more about its habitat, abundance, region, and more. We hope that you can continue to upload your observations, identify more species, and participate in a global effort to help aid our world’s remarkable biodiversity. You never know, you might find a chocolate midge or a distant relative in your backyard or while walking the streets of your town.

Dear AIG Observers,

When enjoying a meal today, remember one out of every three bites or sips are thanks to pollinators. Insect pollinators provide an estimated economic value of at least $35 billion in the United States alone!

Please join us this week in celebrating National Pollinator Week 2024 (June 17-23)! This annual, weeklong initiative hosted and maintained by Pollinator Partnership seeks to recognize the importance of pollinators and educate members of the public on how to protect and conserve them. This year’s theme is Vision 2040: Thriving ecosystems, economies, and agriculture. The hosts urge us to envision a future where pollinators not only survive but thrive. Please check out the Pollinator Partnership website to learn more about Pollinator Week and how you can support pollinators: https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week.

As we remember the important ecological and economic value of pollinators, we hope that you get together with people from your office, your family, or your friends and go and collect insect pollinator data for Global Pollinator Watch! This simple action to contribute to the Global Pollinator Watch project on iNaturalist will provide essential data for Earthwatch scientists to better understand pollinator presence and diversity around the world. We currently have 62 observations in this year’s project, let’s see if we can double or even triple that number this week!

For additional guidance or resources, please remember to reference the AIG Global Pollinator Watch landing page: https://earthwatch.org/global-pollinator-watch-aig.

We look forward to seeing more observations!

Welcome! We are thrilled to launch the 2024 edition of Global Pollinator Watch. We are so glad you have joined us this year. We greatly appreciate your contributions to this project. We hope you are able to connect through a shared interest in nature, the outdoors, or AIG, learn from each other, share your discoveries, and contribute to vital conservation efforts.

As part of our community, you’ll have the opportunity to upload your observations, link observations of plants and insects, identify species with the help of AI and fellow participatory scientists, and participate in an effort that will enhance our collective understanding of local and global ecosystems.

Whether you're a seasoned naturalist or just starting your journey into the wonders of the natural world, your observations are valuable. Every photo, every data point, helps build a clearer picture of the biodiversity that sustains our planet.

So grab your camera, step outside, and let’s start exploring together. Share your first observations today and join us in making a meaningful impact on the conservation and study of our world’s incredible biodiversity.

We can't wait to see what you discover!

Dear Observers,

Thank you for your continued commitment to learning about and increasing the scientific understanding of insect pollinators through data collection in your communities around the world! We’re glad to see your ongoing contribution of photographs – documenting this project’s four target Taxa: Coleoptera (Beetles), Diptera (Flies), Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies), and Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths).

While we encourage you to continue making observations of all of these groups of insects, this month we are focusing on one Taxa in particular, Lepidoptera.

Specifically, the largest group of Lepidopterans, moths. With over 150,000 estimated species of moths worldwide, moths greatly outnumber the diversity of butterflies on the planet, with only ~17,500 estimated species of butterflies (https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/moths).

From July 22 – 30, we hope that you will join us in celebrating National Moth Week – an annual initiative focused on the conservation of these important and often undervalued organisms.

We encourage you to contribute observations of these vital pollinators to this project on iNaturalist. Please also read the following resources to learn more about moths and National Moth Week.

1. Learn more about National Moth Week here: https://nationalmothweek.org/
2. National Moth Week FAQs: https://nationalmothweek.org/frequently-asked-questions/
3. Read more about Moths: https://xerces.org/blog/moths-are-cool-too
4. Consider joining Project PorchLight on iNaturalist, to help document nocturnal insects, including moths: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/project-porchlight

Thank you again for your participation!
The Global Pollinator Watch Team

Dear AIG Observers,

With the warm weather in full swing here in the Northern Hemisphere, pollinators are abuzz with activity! We hope that as you spend time outside, you take notice of your local insect pollinators (and snap a photo for the Global Pollinator Watch project)!

Please also join us next week in celebrating Pollinator Week 2023 (June 19 – 25)! This annual, weeklong initiative hosted and maintained by Pollinator Partnership seeks to recognize the importance of pollinators and educate members of the public on how to protect and conserve them.

This year’s theme is Pollinators and Climate Change – highlighting the impacts of a changing climate on pollinator health and survival, while also noting that pollinator conservation can be a tool to combat the climate crisis. We hope that you will join a local or virtual event, consider ways that you can protect pollinators in your daily life, or educate your friends, family, and community about the importance of pollinators. Please check out the Pollinator Partnership website to learn more about Pollinator Week and how you can support insect pollinators: https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week

One simple action you can take is to continue to contribute to this Global Pollinator Watch project on iNaturalist. Your observations of insect pollinators provide essential data for Earthwatch scientists to better understand pollinator presence and diversity around the world.

We also encourage you to the Pollinator Week Toolkit for resources on how to take action: https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week/toolkit

Thank you for your ongoing contributions!
The Global Pollinator Watch Team

Dear AIG Observers,

Join us on May 20th in celebrating World Bee Day and participate in an international effort to raise awareness about the importance of bees and other insect pollinators!

While bees do the essential work of pollination – carrying pollen between flowering plants and assisting in these plants’ reproduction – the act of pollination has beneficial side effects which humans depend upon, including contributing to crop production and other critical ecosystem services. Despite our dependence upon bees, human activity is driving bee population decline and extinction, threatening ecosystem health and stability, and as a result, our own health, livelihoods, and food security.

World Bee Day emphasizes the role that we can all play to support and conserve the 20,000 different species of bees that share our planet and sustain our quality of life.

One critical action that you can take is contributing Research Grade observations of bees and other insect pollinators to Earthwatch’s Global Pollinator Watch project. By contributing these observations of the insect pollinators that you encounter in your community, you are providing scientists and decision makers around the world with the data they need to assess the presence and diversity of pollinator populations and to make the important conservation management decisions that will support the long-term stability of these insects.

To learn more about World Bee Day and the actions that you can take, check out these resources:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO) World Bee Day: https://www.fao.org/world-bee-day/en

UN-FAO World Bee Day Action Guide: https://www.fao.org/3/cc5759en/cc5759en.pdf

United Nations World Bee Day: https://www.un.org/en/observances/bee-day

Thank you!
The Global Pollinator Watch Team

Dear AIG Observers,

Happy Earth Day! On this annual celebration of the planet that we all call home, we come together to take action for environmental protection and conservation.

One powerful action you can take this Earth Day is conserving insect pollinators – the little organisms that are responsible for providing critical ecosystem services that many of us take for granted every day.

According to Pollinator Partnership, more than 1,200 crops are dependent on pollinators, with 1 in every 3 bites of food that we ingest relying on the services that pollinators provide. In addition to these direct human-derived benefits, pollinators play a key role in sustaining life on Earth for the other, non-human life that we coexist with. Despite this, human-behavior is a key driver of pollinator decline, through habitat loss and degradation, destructive landscaping practices (including the use of pesticides and herbicides), and as a consequence of climate change.

As we celebrate our home planet this Earth Day – we encourage you to consider the following actions to help support healthy pollinator populations!

1. Contribute data to this Global Pollinator Watch project on iNaturalist and help Earthwatch scientists to better understand pollinator presence and diversity in your community.
2. Foster a healthy ecosystem by planting native species and avoiding the use of pesticides and herbicides.
3. Build a bee house for your local wild bee populations.
4. Educate your friends, family, and community members about pollinator decline and the important role that insect pollinators play in contributing to a healthy planet.

Check-out the following resources to learn more about how you can take action for pollinators this Earth Day (and every day)!

1. https://earthwatch.org/stories/six-ways-support-pollinators
2. https://www.pollinator.org/earth-day-toolkit
3. https://xerces.org/events

Thank you!
The Global Pollinator Watch Team

Dear AIG Observers,

Thank you all for your ongoing participation in Global Pollinator Watch! As the weather warms and winter subsides here in much of the Northern Hemisphere – we look forward to seeing your observations of the insect pollinators that you encounter in the natural spaces where you live, work, and recreate.

With the snow beginning to melt and the warmer weather approaching, in addition to making new observations of insect pollinators, we encourage you to consider how landscaping impacts pollinator health. As many people start to think about their yards and lawns, or even the window flowerboxes in their apartments – planting species native to your local ecoregion can go a long way to support pollinators. Planting native, pollinator-friendly plants can both increase pollinator activity and support healthy pollinator populations – ensuring that local pollinator species are able to carry out their critical services effectively. While pollinators, by definition, visit flowers, many species of pollinators- particularly the larval stages of butterflies and moths (caterpillars)- rely on very specific host plants that may have nothing to do with the flowers they will visit as adults. Thinking about all the life stages for pollinators is an important step in managing your natural spaces for healthy pollinator communities.

Check out this Ecoregion Planting Guide created by Pollinator Partnership, to find the plant species native to where you live: https://www.pollinator.org/guides#about

For those of you with a lawn, another important step you can take to create a pollinator-friendly habitat is to avoid the use of pesticides. By eliminating the use of herbicides and insecticides in your lawn or garden – you are taking an active step to prevent the loss of vital pollinator species.

Learn more about six ways that you can support pollinators here: https://earthwatch.org/stories/sixt-ways-support-pollinators

Thank you!
The Global Pollinator Watch Team

Dear AIG Team,

Thank you for your continued contributions to the Global Pollinator Watch project! Through your efforts, we are kicking-off 2023 on the right foot with 442 observations, of which 72% are research grade – those observations which are most valuable for scientific research and conservation. We encourage you to continue contributing your high-quality insect pollinator observations, and as the weather warms in the Northern Hemisphere, we hope even more of you will head back outside to observe pollinators in your communities.

In addition to Global Pollinator Watch, Earthwatch scientists are supporting pollinator research and conservation around the world. These scientists rely on volunteer “citizen scientists” to support their research, collect valuable data, and help in protecting pollinator species. In addition to directing their own pollinator research in the field, these Earthwatch scientists support Global Pollinator Watch, as members of the Global Pollinator Watch science advisory team. Keep reading to learn more about their research below.

Jackie Grant, Ph.D. and Associate Professor of Biology at Southern Utah University is studying pollinator and plant interactions in Utah on her project, “Cracking the Code: the Mysteries of Native Bees in Utah”. With a changing ecosystem in Southern Utah and the introduction of non-native species of Bees, Dr. Grant is working to build a database of native bee genetics in one of the planet's "bee diversity hotspots”. Dr. Grant's research is helping decision makers and scientists to better understand pollinator-plant interactions as they make conservation management decisions.

You can read more about her research here: https://earthwatch.org/expeditions/cracking-code-mysteries-native-bees-utah

Lee Dyer, Ph.D. and Professor of Biology at the University of Nevada Reno and his team are researching caterpillar biodiversity in the tropical rain forests of Costa Rica on his project, “Tracking Caterpillars in Tropical Forests”. To help preserve caterpillar populations and ecosystem stability – Dr. Dyer is studying the complex relationships between caterpillars, the plants they eat, and the parasitoids that eat them, as climate change, ecosystem degradation, and shifts in phenology impact the health and diversity of these pollinator species.

You can read more about his research here: https://earthwatch.org/expeditions/tracking-caterpillars-tropical-forests

Dr. Valerie Peters, Ph.D. and Assistant Professor of Biology at Eastern Kentucky University is working to better understand how to protect pollinators and the ecosystem services that they provide amidst a changing climate and the loss of natural habitat on her project, “Conserving Wild Bees and Other Pollinators of Costa Rica”. Recognizing that humans derive significant benefits from pollinator services, namely the fact that three-quarters of the worlds’ crops depend on pollinators – Dr. Peters is studying how to mitigate the loss of pollinator populations and provide livelihoods for people, as pollinator populations are threatened in Costa Rica and worldwide.

You can read more about her research here: https://earthwatch.org/expeditions/conserving-wild-bees-and-other-pollinators-of-costa-rica