The Census is Coming!

The Second Annual Great Georgia Pollinator Census will be held this coming Friday and Saturday, August 21-22.  While last year was filled with group-count events, this year is decidedly different. Luckily, people who counted last year should feel confident enough to do individual counts, either at home or by finding a local garden (a park, library, or nature center with a good floral display).

Tiger swallowtails love
Joe pye weed (Eutrochium fistulosum)

Your best source of information is the official census webpage: https://ggapc.org where you can download a counting guide that includes a printable form (you need one form for each 15-minute count, so print several forms or make your own on scrap paper). It has loads of information for understanding what insects go into the 8 categories (same as last year): carpenter bees, non-native honey bees, bumble bees, small bees, wasps, flies, butterflies/moths, and any other insect. Pictures are there to help you get familiar with certain bugs (for example, how bee-mimicking flies can be recognized as ‘not bees’).

The task is simple: first, pick a plant to monitor (try to pick one that you’ve seen insects on). Then watch your plant for 15 minutes and count how many insects land on any part of that plant. If an insect leaves and comes back, that's two counts. You might notice that you see much of the same insect over and over (for example all small bees, all flower flies, all butterflies); that can be normal as some insects prefer certain plants. Try to do several counts on different types of plants. Later you can upload your counts to the website.

For inspiration, you are welcome to read my blog from last year’s count. I enjoyed helping other people count but I also had a good time in my own garden. It will be interesting to see if it’s much different in terms of flowers and insects. I can already tell that my cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) will be a major component of the count. My Joe pye weed (Eutrochium fistulosum) is actually a little behind this year so it will be part of the count (last year it was almost tapped out).

I hope you will consider participating. The information that we provide from these counts helps scientists gather valuable information about where and what insects are out there, especially as we add to it every year. According to UGA, the results in 2019 were impressive: “About 4,500 participants documented more than 131,000 insect sightings as part of the inaugural census in 2019, and more than 100 events related to the project took place around the state.”

Bumble bees are reliable visitors to cup plant and rosinweeds (Silphium)