By Tommy Burkhammer Jr. 

The Pollinator Palooza was Saturday October 4th at the Santa Rosa County UF/IFAS office. This was a lovely event celebrating the many pollinators native to our area. There were crafts for the kids, live butterfly displays, and many local groups providing information on our local pollinators. We were even able to get an interview with Resident Horticulture Agent Joshua Criss, who was giving a presentation on some pollinators in the area and on some projects he is heading up. 

You may be asking, what is the UF/IFAS office? The UF/IFAS office is an outreach arm of the University of Florida into each of its 67 counties. These offices provide researched knowledge and professional expertise to the public. They assist the public with things such as garden and lawn care, agriculture, natural and family resources, and they even engage in outreach with the local 4-H. If you ever have any questions regarding such matters please reach out to your county’s UF/IFAS office; they’d love to help you out. 

This event focused on five types of pollinators: birds, bees, butterflies, beetles, and bats. Even though these are the pollinators the event was focused on, all pollinators are vital as they allow plants to reproduce, providing us with both fruit and vegetables as well as new plants. Most people may not realize that one in every three bites of food that we take is only possible due to the pollinators that inhabit our Earth. Even if you did know these facts, you may not know that they also support ecosystems which in turn clean our air and stabilize our soils. 

Birds and bats are our outliers of the group, as they are not insects. Many people may not think of them as pollinators. However, as they go from flower to flower collecting nectar, pollen will stick to their faces and bodies and spread throughout all the flowers they visit. The attendants at the event also opened my eyes to some interesting facts about these creatures. Personally, I did not think of hummingbirds as having a large migratory area. Yet I was informed that they can travel up to 1,000 miles for their migration. Additionally, regarding our bats, I’ve learned that the popular bat houses are not suitable for them. Studies showed that a two-chamber rocket box is the best design, offering the most temperature resilience and space for our nighttime friends. It’s important that we care for our bats, as they pollinate the agave plant in New Mexico, which as any college student may know, gives us tequila. We must save the bats! 

Beetles evolved long before butterflies and bees; in fact they were the earliest pollinators of flowering plants. You may not even think of beetles as pollinators but they are incredibly important. Some plants, like the magnolia tree evolved alongside beetles, as other pollinators weren’t on the scene when magnolia trees first emerged. Although beetles may have been around longer, bees have an arguably better method of pollination. Bees actually create static electricity to attract the pollen to their hair, which allows them to collect as much pollen as possible. Now our butterflies are similar to our bats and birds as they accidentally pollinate while feeding . I’m sure if you’ve lived in this area long enough you’ve probably seen quite a few different kinds of butterflies. Yet what you may not have realized is that we are actually home to the largest species

of butterflies in the U.S. which is the Giant Swallowtail. These butterflies are also known as “bird poop” butterflies because in the caterpillar stage, they closely resemble bird droppings. I got the opportunity to ask the Resident Horticulture Agent, Joshua Criss, some questions about his role in the community and about the event he was hosting. Mr. Criss is “the conduit for the public to go to the resources that the University of Florida.” Essentially he dives into the research conducted by UF and has the knowledge and ability to disseminate that information throughout the county to those who need it. The Pollinator Palooza was a chance for Mr. Criss and the UF/IFAS office to “tell the much bigger story” about pollination. Typically people think of common pollinators, such as bees and butterflies. However, there are countless pollinators, all of which are vital to our ecosystem. 

There are many things you can do to help the local pollinators and the researchers who support them! One way to assist pollinators specifically is to plant a garden. There are many flowers that are perfect for pollinators, such as zinnias or coreopsis. Both have large, open blooms that essentially act like landing pads for insects that wish to feed on them. When asking Mr. Criss about the best plants to attract specific pollinators he told us that “you really want to think about the mouthpart and how whatever you want in your garden is eating.” If you want butterflies or hummingbirds, you might consider some tubular flowers; however the wide open-faced flowers are good all around. Something to assist the researchers in our area with their conservation of these pollinators is to create an account on the iNaturalist website and join the project “Pollinators of Florida.” Then you’ll be able to upload pictures of pollinators and plants with which you find them. This helps create a record of the beautiful biodiversity we have. 

Pollinators are necessary for life as we know it. We should feel connected and be engaged with the nature that surrounds us. If you’d like to get involved please consider some of the options I’ve explained here, or call your local UF/IFAS extension office and see how you can help keep Florida’s natural beauty healthy.