Pollinator Pathway of the Tetons

05/20/2026

Female Spring Beauty Mining Bees are “Pretty in Pink!”

Female Spring Beauty Mining Bees (Andrena erigeniae) collect pollen exclusively from Spring Beauty plants (Claytonia spp.) to feed their young. Although these native bees are quite small, they are fairly easy to identify because Spring Beauty pollen is an unusual light pink. If you see a bee foraging on Spring Beauty flowers wearing “pink pollen pants,” on their hind legs , chances are you’ve spotted this specialist bee!

Spring Beauty is a beautiful, early-blooming spring ephemeral wildflower in the eastern US. It is easy to grow and can be naturalized in woodlands, garden borders or lawns in rich soil with good drainage.

If you plant Spring Beauty, the specialist mining bees may come! One iNaturalist user in Brooklyn, NY reported rapid success with establishing Spring Beauty plants, noting, “Claytonia virginica planted Fall 2024, bees showed up Spring 2025.”

Photo credits: Spring Beauty Mining Bee, Max McCarthy; Spring Beauty plants, iNaturalist atraut87301, CC BY-SA 4.0

05/10/2026

Saw this beautiful Glover's Silkmoth in the town of Jackson yesterday. It was HUGE!

03/27/2026

Did you miss the webinar on moths and butterflies? Here's the link to watch

David L. Wagner, PhD., renowned butterfly and moth expert, will lead us in an exploration of the lives of these charismatic creatures.Learn about the threats...

02/18/2026

Did you know? Bees don’t see the color red. But they do see in the ultraviolet. Beats us humans!

02/18/2026

Saw this in the pollinator garden at the Phoenix Botanical Garden.

02/10/2026

In case you missed it:
Xerces society collaborated with Pollinator Pathway to host a webinar on Pesticide Free Landscapes for Pollinators and People.
You can see the webinar here:

Join us for this free webinar to hear about actions we can take at the state and local levels to challenge the use of pollinator-toxic pesticides in our land...

02/09/2026

Did you know that the leaf cutter bee has special hairs under their abdomen that carry pollen from flower to flower? Thank you Hillary Turner, for this detailed photo!