Pollinator Pals — Bumblebee, My Friend

Meet the pollinator pals

One out of every three bites of food exists because a pollinator did its job. These four do it with style.

🐝

Bumblebee · Bombus impatiens

Buzzy's wings beat about 200 times every second — that super-fast flapping is the buzz you hear!
His fuzzy coat works like Velcro: pollen sticks to it, then rubs off on the next flower. Flower mail delivery!
On a warm day Buzzy can visit 5,000 flowers. He naps in the flowers when he's tired. Same, Buzzy. Same.

🦋

Monarch butterfly · Danaus plexippus

Mariposa tastes with her feet! She steps on a leaf to decide if it's yummy enough for her babies.
Every fall she flies up to 3,000 miles to the same forests in Mexico — without ever being shown the way.
She started life as a stripy caterpillar who ate only milkweed. Talk about a glow-up.

🐦

Ruby-throated hummingbird · Archilochus colubris

Hummer's wings beat 50 times per second, and he can fly backwards — the only bird that can!
His heart beats up to 1,200 times a minute. Yours beats about 100. He's in a hurry.
He remembers every flower he's visited and how long ago — so he never checks an empty one twice.

🦋

Luna moth · Actias luna

Luna does her pollinating at night, visiting pale flowers that glow in the moonlight.
She navigates by the moon, the way sailors once navigated by the stars.
Those big "eyes" on her wings aren't eyes at all — they're scare-spots that startle hungry bats away!