Author Archives: elsa
Protecting Pollinators in Urban Landscapes Conference
October 2, 2017 It’s almost here–the second national Protecting Pollinators in Urban Landscapes Conference, October 9-11, 2017. This event brings together academic and industry researchers, practitioners, and extension educators to discuss new research and real-world challenges in pollinator conservation. I … Continue reading
T. B. Mitchell: The Man Behind The Bees of the Eastern United States
from American Entomologist September 2016 by Elsa Youngsteadt, Heather Moylett, Margarita López-Uribe, and April Hamblin In the mothball-scented NC State University Insect Museum, thousands of bees bear the name T. B. Mitchell. The tiny, terse specimen labels, now caramel-colored and … Continue reading
Squash Bees Are Pollinating Your Pumpkins and Zucchini
from the Frank Lab Website August 17, 2015 For years, I have felt rather sheepish for never having seen a squash bee. As native bees go, these fetching little stripey, round-faced bees get a lot of press. They’re common and … Continue reading
Cicada Killer Wasps Are on the Wing
from the Frank Lab Website July 20, 2015 North Carolina’s steamy July days bring out some of our most spectacular solitary wasps. These sleek and streamlined hunters are quite docile toward humans, but are to be feared by other insects … Continue reading
New paper: Ants make cities cleaner
from the Frank Lab Website December 2, 2014 This is an essay I wrote about our research on ecology of urban insects; the results were just published in Global Change Biology. The first time we came back to an empty … Continue reading
Cities as a glimpse of the future
from the Frank Lab Website August 27, 2014 This is an essay I wrote about my recent research on cities and climate change; the results were just published in Global Change Biology. About a year ago, I found myself sitting … Continue reading
Gardening for pollinators: A quick-start guide
July 26, 2014 A few weeks ago, the Ridgewood Whole Foods Market in Raleigh kindly invited my colleague April Hamblin and me to represent native bees at their Share the Buzz event. I put together this mini-guide to providing room … Continue reading
Chestnut Growers’ Guide to Site Selection and Environmental Stress
from The Journal of the American Chestnut Foundation May-June 2014 American chestnuts are tough, efficient trees that can reward their growers with several feet of growth per year. They’ll survive and even thrive under a range of conditions, but there … Continue reading
This bench is habitat
from the Frank Lab Website May 22, 2014 A few weeks ago, while I was sitting on a bench on campus eating lunch, a female carpenter bee startled me by flying up directly between my knees. She looked me in … Continue reading
Chestnut Growers’ Guide to Pests and Diseases
from The Journal of the American Chestnut Foundation May-June 2013 Growing American chestnuts is an adventure with many rewards: stately trees, delicious nuts, and conservation of an important species. But today’s chestnuts have to fend off much more than the … Continue reading