As the weather warms up in Knoxville and the flowers begin blooming around campus, pollinators are bound to follow. Here are just a few local pollinators you can find in Knoxville along with a handful of ideas about how you can help these critters do their jobs.
Bees
When you think of pollinators, bees are probably the very first thing to pop in your mind. It goes without saying that bees are crucial to the stability of the environment around them. There are 14 types of bees that you can find in Tennessee, but I’ll only be talking about the three most common types. If you’re interested in looking at the others, I recommend checking out this website. There are plenty of cool bees on there such as long-horned bees, squash bees and digger bees just to name a few.
First up on my short list of bees found in Knoxville are bumblebees. They’re the most recognizable with their round bodies, fuzzy coats and signature black and yellow stripes. They don’t produce honey, but they are essential for fruit and vegetable crops.
Next are European honey bees — if you’re a fan of local honey, you have these guys to thank for it. They are a subtype of Eastern honey bees, which are the most common honey bee in all of North America. You can spot them by looking for an amber/brown colored bee with significantly less fuzz than their bumblebee “cousins.”
Last are the carpenter bees. They are sometimes referred to as pests due to their habit of burrowing in the stems of plants like raspberries and hollowing out the wood of anything ranging from dead logs to your backyard deck. Without them though, we would have a hard time growing anything at all. They are mostly active March through October and are divided into two species — large and small carpenter bees. The large ones are about the size of a bumblebee, but are shiny instead of fuzzy. They are mostly black with bright yellow only found on the thorax. The small carpenter bees on the other hand can range in color from forest green to navy blue.
Bees need our help in order to continue their crucial role in the environment. A good way to start is to buy local, organic honey. By supporting local beekeepers, you are in turn helping these pollinators. Another way to help is to support any local vendors whose profits go towards supporting the bees.
Butterflies
A few of Knoxville’s most common butterflies include, of course, the monarch butterfly. Easily the most recognizable butterfly, the monarch can be found anywhere there is milkweed — which is the only source of food for their caterpillars. Most people are familiar with the decline of monarchs as of late, and a good way to combat this problem is to plant local milkweed. Not everyone has the space to garden, but it wouldn’t hurt to encourage your family members to add this plant to their home gardens in order to help these pollinators.
Next is the Red Admiral, which is the most common butterfly in all of Tennessee. They have a dark brown color on the majority of the wing with reddish-orange stripes and white spots decorating the rest, but the underside is a dark brown that can be easily mistaken for bark in order for this pollinator to camouflage itself in the trees.
The last butterfly I’ll mention is the Painted Lady butterfly. Their coloring is pinkish-orange with dark brown markings near the tips of their wings and white spots inside those markings. You can look for them in open spaces like pastures, fields, gardens — anywhere that is open, quiet and relatively undisturbed is where these butterflies thrive.
Bats
Maybe my favorite kind of pollinator, bats are usually active at night — think of them as taking on the night shift for the bees and butterflies. Although they might not be the first example to pop up in your mind, they are equally important and pollinate the same way as the rest — they’re attracted to the nectar from the flowers, and while they’re feeding, the pollen sticks to their bodies as they move from flower to flower. There are about 14 species in Tennessee, but the most common is the little brown bat.
Unfortunately, like most other pollinators, bats are in danger. White-nose syndrome has taken a huge toll on Tennessee bat populations. There is not yet a cure for this disease, but scientists are currently working on a way to help these important mammals.
Even though we can’t yet help bats with this disease, there is another way that we can assist them. Installing a bat house is a great way to help bats raise their young. Unfortunately, as college students, we don’t all have the kind of space or property to put up a bat-house, but if you’re someone renting a house in the area, see if this is a possibility for you.
