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pollinators

Beneficial Insects You Need to Know – Part 3

By Beet 2023 08 August

In past articles we discussed predatory and parasitic beneficials.  Now we turn our attention to pollinators.  Who are the important pollinators in your yard?  Everyone is familiar with the non-native European honeybee (Apis mellifera), but there are so many more insects that provide our pollination services.  In Oregon, we have over 700 species of NATIVE bees, all of whom are servicing our native and non-native plants. And good news: native bees do not sting!

All bees need pollen and nectar to reproduce.  Many of our native bees are specialists on the pollen of particular native plants so that, if the plant isn’t present, those bees cannot survive.  Plant natives!  Some examples of our beautiful native bees are bumblebees – which everyone recognizes – sunflower bees, and others shown below.

 

 

Most of these bees are solitary stem or ground nesting bees. Young queens gather and build a “bee loaf” of pollen and nectar to lay an egg on, then seal that egg and food in a chamber.

Our second most important pollinators after bees are our native flies, especially the hoverflies.

 

 

These little bee mimics can be identified by their large eyes and their hovering behavior over flowers.  Our beneficial flies overwinter in fallen leaves, and many of their larvae provide winter food for birds. So “leave the leaves”.

Moths and butterflies are a third group of important pollinators.  Remember that all butterflies are moths (that fly in the daytime and are brightly colored), but not all moths are butterflies.  The moths are critical nighttime pollinators, so it is important to put your outdoor lights on motion sensors, keeping your yard mostly dark for these important insects.

 

 

Wasps and beetles make up the other two large groups of pollinating insects.

For more information, visit the Xerces Society page about pollinators.

 

Why native Plants?  Plant choice Matters!

By Beet 2021 08 August 41 Comments

By Lynn Kunstman 

Master Gardener 2012 

Part Two of a four-part series

Vaccinium, Huckleberry fruit. Credit OSU

Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, Nature’s Best Hope, The Living Landscape, and The Nature of Oaks, is a professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware. He has written widely about the importance of choosing native plants for our gardens and encourages us to demand more from our yards and gardens.

Instead of just planting for decorative or aesthetic reasons, we must choose plants that provide the following ecosystem services:  soil enrichment and stabilization, water filtration, food production for humans and wildlife, carbon sequestration, weather moderation, habitat, and pollinator support.

NATIVE PLANTS provide ALL these services, while non-native plants do not.

Baby birds MUST eat soft food – meaning caterpillars. Insects specialize when they lay their eggs. Caterpillars, the larvae of butterflies and moths, develop from eggs laid on plants that have co-evolved with their insect partners who use them for host plants. Specialization allows the larvae to safely eat the leaves of a plant that might be toxic to other insects.

Ceanothus. Credit OSU

When we plant non-native plants in our landscapes, we grow fewer caterpillars. Fewer caterpillars mean a reduction in the numbers of birds. Recent research indicates that there are almost 3 billion fewer breeding birds in North America compared to 45 years ago. This is a 30% decline. Our butterflies and moths MUST lay their eggs on native plants.  Their caterpillars need to feed on the NATIVE plants with which they co-evolved.  Without native plants, we have no butterflies and moths, and our birds have NO CATERPILLARS to feed their young.  Caterpillars also supply food for reptiles, amphibians and small mammals.  They are a major component of all our food webs.

Choosing native shrubs for your yard will help support our declining bird populations. Some examples of shrubs you might choose are California lilac, serviceberry, and huckleberry.  These shrubs host 93, 81, and 130 species of butterfly and moth, respectively.

California lilac (Ceanothus sp.) likes full sun, has glossy evergreen leaves and brilliant blue flowers that open in early spring.

Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) can grow to 15 feet in full sun but will tolerate partial shade. It can be pruned to a small tree or leave it to spread into a thicket. Deciduous, with fragrant flowers in May and dark blue berries, it provides important summer food and cover.

Amelanchier alnifolia, Western Serviceberry, Pacific Serviceberry. Credit OSU

Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) will need more water than the others and will tolerate more shade.  A beautiful, glossy evergreen shrub, it provides extra early blooms for bees, shiny, tasty blue-black berries for you and the birds, and makes a lovely base understory planting in a moist, shaded woodland garden.

To learn more about native plants and how to use them as foundations for your landscape, visit

Oregon Flora

https://oregonflora.org/

Native Plant Finder

https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/plants

Remember, plant choice always matters.  Garden for Life!