We designed our Border Wildlife Study to detect vertebrate species such as mammals and birds. Surprisingly, we keep finding invertebrates on our cameras and we love the multitude of insects that flit by our cameras. Often they register as blurs of winged blobs and are often hard to identify.
All insects are a vital part of our Sky Island ecosystem and many of the insects that appear on our Border Wildlife Study cameras are pollinators. Pollinators help carry pollen from flower to flower to help plants reproduce, and in return the insects get a sugar rich food source in the form of nectar. This symbiotic relationship happens around the globe and the border region of the Sky Islands is no different. The most common type of insect pollinator we get on our cameras are butterflies, but there are many others that we are recording and hope to identify through our research. In celebration of Pollinator Week, please enjoy this selection of border pollinators, as blurry as they may be!
