Have you ever wondered just what pollinators might be visiting your property? Maybe you have a vegetable garden, conventional flower garden with non-native plants, or a native garden with plants specific to our mountain region. Surely you have noticed a few or many insects coming to the flowers over time. Maybe you mainly notice honeybees or bumblebees and an occasional butterfly. But if you stand still in front of your various flowering herbs or shrubs for a time, you will notice that other insects are landing on them, as well. And, if you have planted a native perennial garden specifically to attract pollinators, you will likely spot numerous different insects, from the very tiny to the very large, flying speedily from flower to flower, often bumping into each other as they urgently seek out nectar for their family’s survival. Who are all of these creatures and how does their search for nectar result in their pollinating flowers?
Such questions have always fascinated me throughout my work as an ecologist and I periodically put time aside to research some of these insects. Notice that I refer to them as insects. Most people talk about pollinators as if they are bees.
Many are, but there are also flies, beetles, sweat bees, hoverflies, and other members of the insect class that visit flowers. You may also notice spiders that are attracted to flowers. They are actually arachnids, not pollinating insects, but are there (in addition to some insects) to prey on the nectar-gathering pollinators as part of the natural life cycle in a meadow ecosystem. Let’s take a look at a few of the pollinators that may be found among your flowers.
Sweat Bees
Sweat Bees are commonly seen gathering nectar and often have brilliant shiny or metallic green body parts. As their name suggests, they are attracted to human perspiration, perhaps for its salty taste.
Sweat bees are members of the second largest family of bees, Halictidae. Being generalists, they will visit many different species of flowers.
and, as with some other bees, the females can sting. But they rarely do so unless threatened. They are colonial and nest in the ground or in decaying logs.
Bees and Wasps
These pollinators of the Order Hymenoptera are among the most
common flower visitors. Don’t be afraid to observe them closely. They are not interested in you and will leave you alone if you use common sense.
Walk up to them slowly, don’t wave your arms and hands around quickly and carelessly, and take care not to brush against the flowers they are settling upon. They will tolerate your presence as you try to get a photo or simply want a closer look.
Many native wasps are parasitic on other insects (including wasps!) and lay their eggs in the nest egg chambers of these insects. When the eggs hatch, the wasp larvae feed on
the eggs or larvae of their hosts before maturing and exiting the chambers.
Mason wasps are solitary, not colonial, and build nests of mud under porch roofs and outside window trim or even remodel the nests of other solitary wasps, such as mud daubers.
They search out nectar and spread pollen in the process. They will even add caterpillars to their diet or feed them to young mason wasps, to aid in their growth.
Flies and Hoverflies
For decades, bees have been considered the predominant and most efficient pollinators of the insect world, but recent studies have shown that flies are equal in importance.
Though many species the Order Diptera (the "true flies") pollinate flowers, the most dominant are in the Hover Fly Family (Syrphidae). As their name suggests, these insects interrupt foraging flights by hovering over flowers before landing and gathering nectar. Some have color and stripe patterns mimicking bees and wasps, a possible defense characteristic, but hover flies lack
stingers and venom, so these flies are
benign compared to the former.
Collectively, hover flies (also known as
“flower flies”) are now known to visit about 70% of all wildflowers and food crops. And, they systematically visit virtually every flower in each community they target, making them highly efficient pollinators.
Butterflies and Moths
Butterflies and moths (Order Lepidoptera) are not as efficient as bees in pollinating flowers because they do not have specialized structures for collecting pollen. But they do pick up pollen on their legs, their long proboscises, and bodies as they brush against flowers when going after nectar, the only food these adults consume. Within this insect Order, there are six families of butterflies and five families of moths.
Butterflies are attracted to brightly colored flowers, such as orange, yellow--and their favorite color, red. They prefer flowers with landing surfaces and those growing in clusters. Their long unfurling proboscis enables them to reach into deeply hidden nectar chambers unreachable for other insects.
Interestingly, for plants in the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae), butterflies visit the outer ray flowers, whereas bees focus on the central disk flowers of these species. So, butterflies collect and spread pollen missed by bees, making them important pollinators for this flower family.
It may seem surprising that moths are also important for pollination. Their contribution comes from the fact that most moths are only active at night, focusing on flowers that are unavailable to daylight pollinators. Like butterflies, most seek out clusters of flowers that offer landing platforms and which are high in nectar stored within deeply hidden reservoirs. Because they visit flowers that are open at night, moths only recognize those that are white or dully colored.
Members of the Sphinx Moth Family (Sphingidae) are especially sensitive to the scent of these night blooming species.
An exception to this night foraging group is the Hummingbird Sphinx Moth, which can be seen flitting from flower to flower by day, gathering nectar while hovering, rather than landing, similar to their avian counterparts.
There are many species within the pollinating insect groups mentioned here. Take time to observe these and other visitors as your garden flowers come into bloom. The more you watch, the more you will see. There’s a fascinating and busy world going on that you may be missing!
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