Page 5 - November/December 2022 Outdoor Oklahoma Magazine

OFF THE BEATEN PATH

NOTES ON WILDLIFE • OUTDOOR TIPS • READERS’ LETTERS • ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
COMPILED BY DON P . BROWN

RARE BEE FOUND IN OKLAHOMA FOR FIRST TIME

BY JENA DONNELL, Researchers with the Oklahoma
COMMUNICATION Natural Heritage Inventory recent-
SPECIALIST ly documented a rare species of
bee, the morning glory longhorn, USGS NATIVE BEE INVENTORY PROGRAM
while surveying at Cookson Wildlife
Management Area. This is the first
time the species has been detected
in the state; though it is generally
thought to range east of the Great
Plains, the bee was also document-
ed in eastern Colorado in 2013.
“The bee is on the larger side,
about the size of the first digit of
your pinky finger,” said Mary Powley,
research technician with the Invento-
ry. “The defining feature for the spe-
cies is a distinctly shaped structure The morning glory longhorn bee, a rare species, was documented
recently for the first time in Oklahoma.
found just above the mandibles.”
Males of this species have long antennae, a trait indicating an established population may occur at
common among longhorn bees, but those antennae Cookson WMA.
are unusually thin when compared to other North The Inventory team has received funding from
American longhorn bee species. the Wildlife Department to assess the conservation
Powley documented the bee in July while examin- status of Oklahoma’s 10 or so bumble bee species,
ing a patch of bigroot morning glory growing along a and from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to docu-
roadside. Her work was part of a larger effort by the ment pollinators inhabiting the nine National Wildlife
Inventory to document the state’s bee community. Refuges in the state. Both projects are set to begin
A male and a female of the species documented, in 2023. For more, scan the code.

QUAIL HUNTERS ASKED TO DONATE WINGS AT WMAS

During quail hunting season, wing collection
boxes are placed near entrances at several wildlife
management areas: Beaver River, Optima, Packsad- OUTDOOR OKLAHOMA TV
dle, Cooper, Kaw, Drummond Flats, Canton, Fort
Supply, Cross Timbers, and Pushmataha.
For research purposes, hunters are asked to
donate a wing from each quail they harvest using
the envelopes available with the donation boxes.
Wing research can help determine the status of quail
populations at those WMAs and
can offer clues about how next
year’s season might pan out.
To watch an Outdoor Oklaho-
ma TV show segment about quail Hunters at select WMAs can help with quail research
wing donations, scan the code. by donating a wing from each harvested quail.

2 OFF THE BEATEN PATH