It looks like that article only considered the domesticated sunflower species, Helianthus annuus. Here in NC, we have ~30 different wild and native Helianthus species, most of them perennials, and I think the number is about double for the entire US. So there’s a lot of sunflower diversity out there in the wild and I’m sure a lot of variation between them.
I have three perennial species in my yard (H. angustifolius, microcephalus, tuberosus), as well as the wild species version of H. annuus. They all have rather smallish flowers and tiny seeds compared to the agricultural/garden varieties. It is obvious that humans selectively bred H. annuus for seed size and oil content rather than pollinator value when domesticating it as a crop plant. Some of the cultivars/hybrids with unusual flower colors sold for garden use are sterile and make no pollen or seeds at all, so you really have to look closely if you’re buying packets of sunflower seeds to sow with the intent of providing food for pollinators and birds in your yard.
Edited to add another point to consider: Sunflowers were first domesticated by Native Americans in Eastern North America long before European settlers arrived and imported it to Europe. So they neither co-evolved nor were domesticated with honeybees.
** That bumblebees don´t sting… I believed that until I was stung when I was 12 years old… and worst part was that nobody did believe me, because “They don´t sting” …
** That wasp come into houses in autumn because they search a place for winter (Actually, I had this case myself when I was younger and read it recently in this forum: sometimes wasps seem to come into the house on purpose, bt actually it seem to be cases when colonies start to break down and the most likely exit for all those dying wasps is also an entrance into the house)
** All (social) wasps are agressive and are likely to sting (I recall how fascinated I was as a child when realizing that for example Polistinae are so calm… they looked so much like “the bad guys” I was really afraid of… it was an impressive learning curve for me)
God, I remember seeing all these posts of a squashed, wasp-looking insect and then the squisher posting to facebook ID groups asking “Is tHiS a MuRdEr HoRNeT!?!?!?!?”
Another misconception I heard was that wasps do not like to build nests close to each other. Well, seeing two founding Polistes exclamans nests within the same porch maybe 1m away from each other immediately destroyed that belief.
You mention the dandelion as not the be-all and end-all plant for bees, but would it be worth mentioning some local species that tend to attract native pollinators? Anecdotal, but I’ve seen it twice where the native species was teaming with life (bees, beetles, bugs, etc.) vs. a non-native by such an obvious amount, where the second time, I thought “this species of flower must be native”. Great time to promote the less showy, more beneficial flora…
Ground covers:
Tridax procumbens
Kallstroemia maxima
Ruellia nudiflora
Vines:
Gonolobus barbatus
Passiflora foetida
Shorter plants (1 meter ish):
Petiveria alliacea
I am pretty certain most are considered less desired, at least here. But my garden is buzzing! I will NEVER live without a Hamelia patens again. I could watch it all day.
You may well be correct. However, just because someone is attracted to it does not mean it is of nutritional value. Compare this to humans and thier love for junk food and sweetened soda drinks and the overall health of those whose whole diet is based on those foods and drinks.
I guess this also comes from “all bees/wasps are either honey bees or yellow jackets” but “all bees and wasps are social” and “all bees make honey” are common ones.
Also, inverse to “any black and yellow stripey insect is a wasp,” there’s “this non-stripey insect must be some kind of fly” when people do notice like sweat bees.
People in my area often use “bee” as the generic for wasps so some think wasps are a subset of bees rather than the other way around.
Growing up (in the eastern US) I knew honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, yellow jackets, paper wasps, and bald-faced hornets and that’s about it - basically, the most noticeable bees, and wasps that might build a nest on your house lol. Oh and cicada killers because they’re freaking enormous. Growing up I never realized that there was this huge biodiversity to insects even locally so I’m not sure how many people know there’s anything more than those most-recognizable species.
What misconceptions are there about pesticide use? I would think it’s kind of intuitive that chemical pesticides are bad for non-pest insects as well.
The world is a large place, so this is easily its own hundred comment thread. Helianthus petiolaris and Xanthisma spinulosum are the most prolific plants in my summer garden and combined host a few hundred bee, wasp, beetle, bug, fly, and moth species.
Not many people might realise that ‘wasp’ is such a broad classification that, in a cladistic sense, all bees, and all ants, are wasps.
Some wasps are more closely related to bees than they are to other wasps; likewise, some particular wasps are more related to ants than they are to bees or indeed other wasps.
Another fun tidbit is that due to their parasitoid lifestyle, some groups of wasps might be the most species-rich group of insects out there, comparable with beetles and flies.
I just finished this book: “Endless Forms: The Secret World of Wasps” by Seirian Sumner. She studies wasps and wants to make people realize that they are amazing creatures and not the evil little monsters a lot of people think they area. Lots of material in this book for you. She compares bees and wasps a great deal.
Definately recommended!!!
Clover is very popular among bumblebees, they evolved to feed on it! But they are mad about a patch of seeded Phacelia tanacetifolia, honeybees like them too, and even if many are living at someone’s hive, that’s a native species. They feed well on fruit trees like apples too. Visit different cultivated asters (anything with Rudbeckia-like type of florescence).
Those or closely related species are also in the Dominican Republic; but the greatest abundance and diversity of pollinators I have found there were on a nonnative plant, Leonurus japonicus.
Encouraging plants of any kind that neighbors happily spray with pesticides is certainly counter productive, especially dandelion and clover in North America. We all live down wind. We often see on social media how important dandelion blossoms are in early spring for “bees” but I wonder if there is any evidence that native bees are dependent on non-native plants.at any time of the year.