Nature Walk, Pollinators + Other Insects, May 3rd 2025

Our 2025 Nature Walks series kicked off on May 3 with the return to McGolrick of Jay Holmes from the American Museum of Natural History.

On this particularly warm day, the park was buzzing with pollinators and insects. With magnifying glasses in hand, Jay and the group carefully scoured the park for pollinators, which were not difficult to spot.

Participants learned about the main insect pollinator groups, including their life cycles and habitat requirements. Among the insects viewed were the light yellow sac spider and the fuzzy bumble bee. By looking at the bees “bums”, the participants were able to see that Brown-Belted bumble bees, Carpenter bees and Leaf-cutter bees were prevalent at this time of year.

To learn more about how to identify the types of bees, visit the Nature Walks Resources section, where you can find quick reference guides made using the NYC Bumble Bee and NYC Bee Diversity bookmarks Jay shared during the walk.

Jay told the group that the big bees seen in the garden beds were Queens. Some of the participants were even able to hold a male bee (male bees cannot sting as they don't have the stinging anatomy, which makes them safe to handle). Jay noted that most bees that aren’t honey bees are solitary creatures and very unlikely to sting a human, especially near the flowers, as they have no large hive to protect and no evolutionary incentive to sting.

Jay brought along several other insect specimens for walk participants and other park-goers to view with microscopes and magnifying glasses.

It is truly amazing how these tiny heroes help keep McGolrick Park’s ecosystem thriving!

Private support for McGolrick Nature Walks is provided by City Parks Foundation and Partnerships for Parks through the NYC Green Fund.