u/Worldly-Conflict-359

Happy World Bee Day!

Arizona is home to more than 1300 species of bees.

What kind of bees have you spotted in your garden, and do you do anything specific in your garden to help our little native pollinator friends?

In my garden, I do simple things like

• Leaving areas of bare soil for nesting
• Leaving leaf litter/brush piles/stone piles for nesting
• No pesticides
• Having continuous pollen/nectar availability throughout the year

The Maricopa Pollinator Pathway website provides other gardening practices to support our native pollinators. Check out their site and consider joining the pathway if you haven't already!

It brings me so much joy to see little creatures stopping by and enjoying my garden.

I would love to see everyone's favorite photos of their own garden visitors!

(I wasn't sure about the identification on a couple of these.)

1. Arizona Mantis nymph
2. Checkered White (on a Desert Marigold)
3. Globe Mallow Bees (in a Superstition Mallow bloom)
4. Sphinx Moth
5. Western Pygmy Blue (??) (on a Turpentine Bush)
6. Ornate Tree Lizard (??) (on a Saguaro skeleton)
7. Sonoran Desert Tortoise (having a little soak in his enclosure)