Kate Hunter, Author at Wild About Utah

November 3, 2025November 2, 2025

Marie and Her Yellow Jacket

Western yellowjacket (V. pensylvanica) on a fennel flower (Foeniculum vulgare), Courtesy Wikimedia, By Davefoc - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link — Western yellowjacket (V. pensylvanica) on a fennel flower (Foeniculum vulgare)
Courtesy Wikimedia, By Davefoc – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Marie y su chaqueta Amarilla.
Today’s story is in both Spanish and English. To hear a Spanish version listen on Wednesday evening at 9pm, or online here and at UPR.org

We’ve had some hot days, during which we’ve been able to enjoy rivers, lakes, and pools—but what I enjoy most during this time is walking along the trails of this beautiful valley where I live.

Cache Valley has a unique geographic shape unlike anywhere else in the world. Just a short distance from our homes, we can find natural beauty that captivates us and makes us lose track of time within stunning landscapes such as the First Dam, the Second Dam, the Wind Caves, the Stokes Nature Center Trail, Tony Grove, and Bear Lake, among others. It would take me an entire book to list every single one.
Among the many beautiful things this summer has brought are the chance to live unique experiences—like watching fireflies, feeding hummingbirds, and seeing people learn about native species from experts.

All of this reminds me that I live in a magical place, full of life—a place where everyone would want to stay forever and where time feels like it stands still.

A few leaves have started to fall, and the landscapes are turning orange, brown, and golden. That reminds me that autumn is coming and winter will soon arrive. It’s time to start preparing my little home. I’ve been working, gathering mud from the banks of the Logan River, but I still take notice of all those who take photos, who sing, and who speak words of love, joy, and hope to their loved ones—including their pets.

My family and I are almost ready to rest and hope that this winter will be as pleasant as all the previous ones, and that people will enjoy it with their walks and warm clothes—with their boards and funny shoes—and that children will be able to run and slide with their little faces red from the cold.

You might be wondering who I am, since I’ve already given you a few hints about where I live. My family and I have spent many years here, close to you, watching you pass by. Many times, I’ve startled you—and you’ve applauded me for my good performance.

There are many of us who live here. I have wonderful neighbors—like the snakes that rest near the rocks or by the riverbanks, the birds that fly each day in search of seeds, and the squirrels that gather food and run toward the trees. Do you know who I am now?

Thank you for understanding that we are important. Thank you for studying and learning about me. Thank you for giving me fancy hotels where I can live and spend time.

Although I always prefer to build my own mud house—the one that protects us from rain and snow.

It’s me, your little friend, the one who helps with pollination and eats caterpillars in your garden. I always wear a yellow jacket in case bad weather catches me away from home. Yes, that’s me—Marie, the yellow jacket wasp.

Remember that our magical place is here. We live in harmony with one another, and keeping it that way forever depends on us. Help me ensure that our place of peace and tranquility remains for generations to come.

This is Kate Hunter with Stokes Nature Center, and I’m Wild about Utah.

Credits:
English Version: Kate Hunter, Education, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Spanish Version: Carlos Ramos, Facilities, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Images: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons, Davefoc, – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Anderson, Howe, & Wakeman
Text: Kate Hunter & Carlos Ramos, https://logannature.org/staff
Additional Reading: Kate Hunter, Carlos Ramos, https://logannature.org/staff & Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Kate Hunter https://wildaboututah.org/author/kate-hunter/
Wild About Utah Pieces by Carlos Ramos https://wildaboututah.org/author/carlos-ramos/

Western Yellowjacket drinking water, Wikimedia Commons, Katja Schulz, Author/Contributor, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Western_Yellowjacket_drinking_water_-_Flickr_-_treegrow.jpg
Originally posted to Flickr by treegrow at https://flickr.com/photos/86548370@N00/8137488317

Western Yellowjacket Wasp: Western Paper Wasp, Mischocyttarus flavitarsus–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mischocyttarus_flavitarsis

Yellow-legged Mud Dauber: Sceliphron caementarium, Wikimedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sceliphron_caementarium

Bald-faced hornet: Dolichovespula maculata, Plant Health, Extension, Utah State University, https://extension.usu.edu/planthealth/ipm/notes_nuisance/baldfaced-hornet

August 4, 2025August 5, 2025

Pollinator Camp: Bees

Blue Orchard Bee, Osmia Lignaria On California Five-Spot Flower Courtesy USDA ARS Jim Cane, Photographer — Blue Orchard Bee, Osmia Lignaria
On California Five-Spot Flower
Courtesy USDA ARS
Jim Cane, Photographer

By Kate Hunter, Leer en español
In late June of this year, we at Stokes Nature Center held our first pollinator camp. In this period, we worked with a local beekeepers, visited the USDA U.S. National Pollinating Insects Collection at Utah State University, and we fed hummingbirds from the palm of our hands. In spite of the short attention spans that summer brings, there were moments of pure uncut interest from the middle school age campers. Here, I’ll describe some bees and I want you to think if these would hold the attention of any teenagers in your life. Images of these bees and many more can be found online at the flikr page of the USGS bee lab, links to this page are online at WildAboutUtah.org and UPR.org

A Fairy Bee, Perdita minima ( Courtesy DiscoverLife.com, Copyright John Ascher, Photographer — A Fairy Bee, (*Perdita minima*)
Copyright John Ascher / Discover Life

When I say fairy bee, what do you think of? Small? Adorned with jewels? The fairy bees of the genus Perdita are a group of very small bees, with the largest of them being just 10 mm long (or the length of two grains of rice put together end to end). The smallest bee on the earth, Perdita minima, or mini fairy bee is just 2mm-the width of a grain of rice. Though they may seem easy to miss, they are numerous and right under our noses. These fairy bees are one of the most common types of bees in desert ecosystems, like that of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah. These bees are other-wordly, sometimes a blonde or light brown or dark with white metallic reflective markings perhaps like a jewel.

What about a blue bee? Do you know much about what pollinates your fruit trees? The Blue Orchard bee, Osmia lignaria, is a shiny blue bee that pollinates many fruit trees here in Utah including apple, apricot, almond, plum, cherry, peach, nectarine, and pear. They’re more efficient than the honeybee when it comes to fruit production per individual and there are great efforts to understand their future as a managed pollinator at the Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research unit here in Logan UT.

Sweat bee (Halictidae) Courtesy USDA ARS, Scott Bauer, Photographer — Sweat bee (Halictidae)
Courtesy USDA ARS, Scott Bauer, Photographer

Here’s my last marvel-the sweat bee. Have you ever noticed a small insect landing on you in the heat of day that might have been black, green, or green up top and striped on the bottom? This might be a sweat bee! This name sweat bee encompasses many types of bees-with 4,500 species in this group of all varieties of shapes, sizes, colors. One of my favorite for its fascinating clashing color combination is the bicolored striped sweat bee, Agapostemon virescens. This sweat bee has a green upper body reminiscent of a wicked green witch with a yellow or white and stripped lower body.

I could go on, as there are 21,000 species of bees each with their own outfits and lifestyles, with Utah being home to an estimated 1,100 species. But for now, I’ll leave you be.

I’m Kate Hunter, Director of Education at Stokes Nature Center, and I’m Wild About Utah.

Credits:
Spanish Version: Carlos Ramos, Facilities, Stokes Nature Center https://logannature.org/staff/
Images: Blue Orchard Bee, Courtesy USDA ARS, © Jim Cane, Photographer
A Fairy Bee (Perdita minima), Copyright John Ascher / Discover Life
Sweat bee (Halictidae)
Courtesy USDA ARS, Scott Bauer, Photographer https://aglab.ars.usda.gov/fuel-your-curiosity/insects/buzz-about-bees
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Anderson, Howe, & Wakeman
Text: Kate Hunter & Carlos Ramos, https://logannature.org/staff
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Kate Hunter https://wildaboututah.org/author/kate-hunter/
Wild About Utah Pieces by Carlos Ramos https://wildaboututah.org/author/carlos-ramos/

Summer Camps, Stokes Nature Center, https://logannature.org/camps

USGS Bee Lab Flickr Account, https://www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/

USU Insect Collections including Bees (Hymenoptera), https://artsci.usu.edu/biology/research/insect-holdings/

Cane, James H., Gardening and Landscaping Practices for Nesting Native Bees, USU Extension/USDA ARS, May 2015, https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/20800500/gardland-nativebees.pdf

Cane, James H., Gardening for Native Bees in Utah and Beyond, USU Extension/USDA ARS, January 2013, https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/20800500/Gardening.pdf

Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research: Logan, UT, (USDA Bee Lab, Logan UT), USDA ARS, US Department of the Interior, https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/logan-ut/pollinating-insect-biology-management-systematics-research/

May 5, 2025May 5, 2025

Fireflies Find Love in Utah

My name is Kate and my name is Carlos. Today’s Wild About Utah is in both Spanish and English. The Spanish version will be read by Carlos Ramos. You can also listen to this story in Spanish this Wednesday evening between 9:01-9:06 or online.

Against all odds, fireflies find love here in Utah. Out at places like Firefly Park in Nibley, you can watch these dazzling lanterns dance and bounce, starting around early June. Watching these fireflies is magical, even more when you know what it took for them to glow each night.

The first challenge a firefly faces is finding a good wet habitat out here in arid Utah. Finding dark, wet habitat can be tough, but somehow fireflies have done it and have done so in Utah since potentially 1929. Once a firefly finds a good spot, now they have to find each other. Doing this requires precision and chemistry. In their abdominal lantern, the enzyme luciferase must hug both luciferin and a molecule of energy tightly to help combine their parts. Then luciferin combines with oxygen to form the energetic Oxyluciferase. Much like a kid with too much candy, Oxyluciferase is now desperate to release some energy before it’s too much. It does this by releasing a light-emitting photon and we see the magic before our eyes. As if creating light inside one’s body wasn’t tough enough, now they must attune their signal to their species and find each other. Each species has a unique Morse code of light they need to blip in order to find each other.

Now, let’s say a firefly makes it to a marshy habitat and they meet the love of their short 3-week life, now the romance can begin. Males and females copulate for hours, remaining still and stuck end to end. During this time, the male gives the female what’s called a nuptial gift full of protein along with his sperm. If that isn’t romantic, I don’t know what is! The females will store this gift and digest it over several days to help her get the protein to lay her eggs. Once laid, these eggs will take between a few months to 2 years to become adults where they will light their heart out to repeat the process.

For me, thinking about all the chemistry involved, both molecular and romantic, is moving. I hope we can protect their light for generations to come.

My name is Kate and my name is Carlos and we’re Wild About Utah.

Credits:
Spanish Version: Las luciérnagas encuentran el amor en Utah, https://wildaboututah.org/las-luciernagas-encuentran-el-amor-en-utah/
Images: Courtesy Pixabay, Francisco Javier Corado, Rivera, Contributor, https://pixabay.com/photos/insect-nature-yard-firefly-5151913/
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Anderson, Howe, & Wakeman
Text: Kate Hunter & Carlos Ramos, https://logannature.org/staff
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Kate Hunter https://wildaboututah.org/author/kate-hunter/
Wild About Utah Pieces by Carlos Ramos https://wildaboututah.org/author/carlos-ramos/

Strand, Holly, Firefly Light, Wild About Utah, June 20, 2013, https://wildaboututah.org/firefly-light/

Hellstern, Ron, June Fireflies, Wild About Utah, June 19, 2017, https://wildaboututah.org/june-fireflies/

Bills, Christy, Fireflies, Wild About Utah, May 15, 2019, https://wildaboututah.org/fireflies/

Heers, Mary, Fireflies at Nibley Firefly Park, Wild About Utah, May 23, 2022, https://wildaboututah.org/see-fireflies-at-nibley-firefly-park/

Join Stokes Nature Center for their firefly tours, from 9:15-10:15 at Virgil Gibbons Heritage Park/Firefly Park in Nibley, UT!
All nights are offered in English while June 6 and 7th will also have Spanish Tours
Dates and Links to Ticketing are Here:
– June 3rd-https://givebutter.com/firefly25-june3
– June 5th-https://givebutter.com/firefly25-june5
– June 6th-https://givebutter.com/firefly25-june6 (Tours offered in Spanish as well)
– June 7th-https://givebutter.com/firefly25-june7 (Tours offered in Spanish as well)