Insects of San Francisco Bay Area
Tarantula Hawk - Pepsis pallidolimbata (Mount Diablo)
California Yellowjacket - Vespula sulphurea (Mount Diablo)
Devastating Grasshopper - Melanoplus devastator (Sunol Regional Wilderness)
Long-horned Beetle - Prionus lecontei (Mines Road)
Mantis
Dark Jerusalem Cricket - Stenopelmatus fuscus (Sunol Regional Wilderness)
The San Francisco Bay Area is home to a number of insects, including different types of butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, beetles and grasshoppers. You can find them in all types of habitats including urban areas.
The San Francisco Bay Area has a high diversity of insect species because of the diversity of the local environment. The juxtaposition of high insect diversity and an area intensively used by humans led to the first recorded extinction as well as the first efforts to conserve insects in the United States.
Ants
Over 100 species of ants are native to the Bay Area. The invasion of the introduced Argentine Ant - Linepithema humile, has mostly driven the native ants out near urban areas.
Some common species:
Some links:
- Bay Area Ants, section on AntWeb. This site has detailed photos and scientific descriptions. You can generate lists by local counties.
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- Ants section on myrmecos.net - this site has great photographs of many ant species and some other insects too.
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- A key for identifying 16 common species of ants found in San Francisco area by Kevin M. Clarke
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Bees
At least 81 species of native bees, from 5 families, are found in the Bay Area. These are Apidae, Andrenidae, Colletidae, Halictidae, and Megachilidae. The most common species, the Honey Bee - Apis mellifera, is however an introduced (exotic) species from Europe.
Some common species:
Some links:
- Some nice Bee photographs in our Flickr group -
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- Common Bee Groups in the San Francisco Bay Area -
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- A Practical Guide to Bee-friendly Urban Gardens by the Bee Lab at the College of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley.
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- Native Bees Found In The Greater San Francisco Bay Area Region, With Some Of Their Likely Plant Hosts, Yerba Buena Nursery.
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Beetles
Some local species:
Some links:
- Beetle photographs in our Flickr group
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- Ladybug Pajama Party - KQED Quest video about wintering ladybugs in Redwood Regional Park
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- It's Raining ... Rain Beetles? by Kate Brittain, Bay Nature, October 2008.
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Wasps
Some local species:
Some links:
- Some nice Wasp photographs in our Flickr group -
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- Summary of Napa County Yellowjackets -
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Media
- A selection of useful reference books can be found here - Insect Books ...more
- Eddie Dunbar has produced a CD guide to Lake Merritt and Greater Oakland Insects.
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Insect Articles and Links
- BugPeople is an Entomology Outreach program based in Oakland. Their website has many photographs and other resources for studying Bay Area insects.
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- Photographs of insects in Lake Elizabeth area of Fremont, by Alice Cavette. Covers a pretty wide varietly of insects and spiders.
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- BugGuide.Net is a great resource for insects and spiders. It contains a vast collection of photographs submitted by users all over North America. You can browse by taxonomical arrangement or search using different fields.
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- Singing Insects of North America is a comprehensive site for Crikets, Katydids, and Cicadas.
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