![Monarch on Goldenrod A Monarch butterfly takes a break from its southbound migration to energize on nectar from a goldenrod flower.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Monarch-on-goldenrod-IMG_5336-Copy.jpg)
Hymanoptera: A Look at Some Bees, Wasps, Hornets, and Ants
What’s all this buzz about bees? And what’s a hymanopteran? Well, let’s see.
Hymanoptera—our bees, wasps, hornets and ants—are generally considered to be our most evolved insects. Some form complex social colonies. Others lead solitary lives. Many are essential pollinators of flowering plants, including cultivars that provide food for people around the world. There are those with stingers for disabling prey and defending themselves and their nests. And then there are those without stingers. The predatory species are frequently regarded to be the most significant biological controls of the insects that might otherwise become destructive pests. The vast majority of the Hymanoptera show no aggression toward humans, a demeanor that is seldom reciprocated.
Late summer and early autumn is a critical time for the Hymanoptera. Most species are at their peak of abundance during this time of year, but many of the adult insects face certain death with the coming of freezing weather. Those that will perish are busy, either individually or as members of a colony, creating shelter and gathering food to nourish the larvae that will repopulate the environs with a new generation of adults next year. Without abundant sources of protein and carbohydrates, these efforts can quickly fail. Protein is stored for use by the larval insects upon hatching from their eggs. Because the eggs are typically deposited in a cell directly upon the cache of protein, the larvae can begin feeding and growing immediately. To provide energy for collecting protein and nesting materials, and in some cases excavating nest chambers, Hymanoptera seek out sources of carbohydrates. Species that remain active during cold weather must store up enough of a carbohydrate reserve to make it through the winter. Honey Bees make honey for this purpose. As you are about to see, members of this suborder rely predominately upon pollen or insect prey for protein, and upon nectar and/or honeydew for carbohydrates.
We’ve assembled here a collection of images and some short commentary describing nearly two dozen kinds of Hymanoptera found in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the majority photographed as they busily collected provisions during recent weeks. Let’s see what some of these fascinating hymanopterans are up to…
SOLITARY WASPS
![Great Black Wasp Great Black Wasp on goldenrod (Solidago species)](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Great-Black-Wasp-IMG_3056-Copy.jpg)
![Great Black Wasp A Great Black Wasp.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Great-Black-Wasp-IMG_3791-Copy.jpg)
![Great Black Wasp A Great Black Wasp powdered with pollen.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Great-Black-Wasp-Sphex-pensylvanicus-CIMG_3724-Copy.jpg)
![Thread-waisted Wasp Dragging Caterpillar Thread-waisted Wasp](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Ammophilia-thread-waisted-Wasp-IMG_3616-Copy.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00114-Copy.jpg)
![Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber The Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Black-and-yellow-Mud-Dauber-IMG_3793-Copy.jpg)
![Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber at nest.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Wasp-DSC06112-Copy-1.jpg)
![Pipe Organ Mud Dauber Nest Pipe Organ Mud Dauber Nest](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Pipe-Organ-Mud-Dauber-nest-DSC05904-Copy.jpg)
![Scavenger Flies in Pipe Organ Mud Dauber Nest](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Pipe-Organ-Mud-Dauber-nes-composite-with-scavenger-fklies-DSC05904-Copy-Copy-Copy.jpg)
CUCKOO WASPS
![Cuckoo Wasp Cuckoo Wasp](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Cuckoo-Wasp-IMG_4343-Copy.jpg)
SWEAT BEES
![Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum species) A Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum species).](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Sweat-Bee-Lasioglossum-IMG_4397-Copy.jpg)
![Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum species) A Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum species).](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Sweat-Bee-Lasioglossum-species-IMG_4398-Copy.jpg)
![Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum species) A Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum species).](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Sweat-Bee-Lasioglossum-IMG_4400-Copy.jpg)
![Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee An Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee (Augochlorini).](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Augochlorine-Green-Sweat-Bee-Augochlorini-IMG_4159-Copy.jpg)
![Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee An Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee (Augochlorini).](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Augochlorine-Green-Sweat-Bee-Augochlorini-IMG_4194-Copy.jpg)
![Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee An Augochlorine Green Sweat Bee (Augochlorini).](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Augochlorine-Green-Sweat-Bee-IMG_4394-Copy.jpg)
LEAFCUTTER AND MASON BEES
![Leafcutter Bee Leafcutter Bee](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Leafcutter-Bee-IMG_4204-Copy.jpg)
![Leafcutter Bee A Leafcutter Bee (Megachile species).](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Leafcutter-Bee-visiting-Monarda-054-Copy.jpg)
![Leafcutter Bee Leafcutter Bee](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Leafcutter-Bee-IMG_4228-Copy.jpg)
![Mason Bee Emerging A Mason Bee (Osmia species) emerging from a nest cell in spring.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Mason-Bee-emerging-DSC07473-Copy.jpg)
![Mason Bee Nest Box A mason bee nest box with holes drilled into blocks of wood.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Mason-Bee-nest-box-IMG_4406-Copy.jpg)
![Parasitized Mason Bee Nest Parasitized Mason Bee Nest](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Wasp-parasitizing-Mason-Bee-nest-IMG_4408-Copy.jpg)
BUMBLE BEES, CARPENTER BEES, HONEY BEES, AND DIGGER BEES
![Common Eastern Bumble Bee Common Eastern Bumble Bee](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Common-Eastern-Bumble-Bee-IMG_3531-Copy.jpg)
![Common Eastern Bumble Bees Common Eastern Bumble Bees](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Common-Eastern-Bumble-Bees-IMG_3743-Copy.jpg)
![Common Eastern Bumble Bee A Common Eastern Bumble Bee pollinating a Great Rhododendron flower.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/DSC05095-Copy-2.jpg)
![Eastern Carpenter Bee Eastern Carpenter Bee](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Eastern-Carpenter-Bee-IMG_3820-Copy.jpg)
![Honey Bee and Common Eastern Bumble Bees A Honey Bee visiting goldenrod alongside Common Eastern Bumble Bees.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Honey-Bee-and-Bumble-Bees-IMG_3497-Copy.jpg)
![Honey Bee Hive Honey Bee Hive](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Honey-Bees-in-owl-box-IMG_2468-Copy.jpg)
![Bee Hive Display Bee Hive Display](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PA-State-Beekeeepers-Association-live-bee-hive-display-DSC06338-Copy.jpg)
![Small Carpenter Bee? A possible Small Carpenter Bee Ceratina species).](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Digger-Bee-IMG_3845-Copy.jpg)
![Digger Bee A Digger Bee (possibly Melissodes species).](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Digger-Bee-Melissodes-species-IMG_3769-Copy.jpg)
SCOLIID WASPS
![Two-spotted Scoliid Wasp Two-spotted Scoliid Wasp](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Scolia-dubia-IMG_2616-Copy.jpg)
![June Bugs June Bugs eating watermelon.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/June-Bugs-DSC03509-Copy.jpg)
![Double-banded Scoliid The Double-banded Scoliid](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Scolia-bicinta-IMG_2604-Copy.jpg)
PAPER WASPS
![Northern Paper Wasp Northern Paper Wasp](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Northern-Paper-Wasp-Polistes-fuscatus-IMG_2522-Copy.jpg)
![Northern Paper Wasp The Northern Paper Wasp](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Polistes-fuscatus-IMG_3816-Copy.jpg)
![Northern Paper Wasp Harvesting Wood Pulp A Northern Paper Wasp harvesting wood pulp](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Northern-Paper-Wasp-Polistes-fuscatus-072-Copy.jpg)
![Guinea Paper Wasps Guinea Paper Wasps (Polistes exclamans) at their nest.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Guinea-Paper-Wasp-098-Copy.jpg)
![European Paper Wasp European Paper Wasp](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/European-Paper-Wasp-IMG_2443-Copy.jpg)
YELLOWJACKETS AND HORNETS
![Eastern Yellowjacket An Eastern Yellowjacket](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Eastern-Yellowjacket-IMG_3956-Copy.jpg)
![Eastern Yellowjacket An Eastern Yellowjacket.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Eastern-Yellowjacket-IMG_3958-Copy.jpg)
![Robber Fly Consuming Eastern Yellowjacket Robber Fly consuming an Eastern Yellowjacket](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Promachus-Rober-Fly-with-Yellowjacket-DSC05750-Copy.jpg)
![Bald-faced Hornet and Spotted Lanternfly A Bald-faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) feeding on Spotted Lanternfly honeydew deposits](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Bald-faced-Hornet-feeding-on-lanternfly-honeydew-305-Copy.jpg)
![Bald-faced Hornet Collecting Wood Pulp A Bald-faced Hornet collecting wood pulp from the surface of a weathered picnic table.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Bald-faced-Hornet-029-Copy.jpg)
![Bald-faced Hornet Nest Bald-faced Hornet Nest](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Bald-faced-Hornet-IMG_2620-Copy.jpg)
![Bald-faced Hornets Peering from Nest Bald-faced Hornets Peering from Nest](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Bald-faced-Hornet-IMG_2632-Copy.jpg)
![European Hornets European Hornets](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/European-Hornet-IMG_2636-Copy.jpg)
![European Hornets European Hornets constructing a nest in a tree cavity.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/European-Hornet-close-026-Copy.jpg)
POTTER WASPS
![Potter Wasp A Potter Wasp (Eumenes species, probably E. fraturnus) hovering near a European Paper Wasp.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Potter-Wasp-Eumenes-species-prob-fraternus-IMG_2442-Copy.jpg)
ANTS
![Field Ants Field Ants (Formica species, possibly Formica pallidefulva) clearing the entrance to their underground nest.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Formica-maybe-pallidefulva-IMG_4012-Copy.jpg)
We hope this brief but fascinating look at some of our more common bees, wasps, hornets, and ants has provided the reader with an appreciation for the complexity with which their food webs and ecology have developed over time. It should be no great mystery why bees and other insects, particularly native species, are becoming scarce or absent in areas of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed where the landscape is paved, hyper-cultivated, sprayed, mowed, and devoid of native vegetation, particularly nectar-producing plants. Late-summer and autumn can be an especially difficult time for hymanopterans seeking the sources of proteins and carbohydrates needed to complete preparations for next year’s generations of these valuable insects. An absence of these staples during this critical time of year quickly diminishes the diversity of species and begins to tear at the fabric of the food web. This degradation of a regional ecosystem can have unforeseen impacts that become increasingly widespread and in many cases permanent.
![Farmland Desert A farmland desert.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Ag-desert-034-Copy.jpg)
![Goldenrod and other Autumn Wildflowers A savanna-like habitat.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Wildflowers-in-autumn-IMG_4019-Copy.jpg)
Editor’s Note: No bees, wasp, hornets, or ants were harmed during this production. Neither was the editor swarmed, attacked, or stung. Remember, don’t panic, just observe.
SOURCES
Eaton, Eric R., and Kenn Kaufman. 2007. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, NY.
(If you’re interested in insects, get this book!)
Monarch an Endangered Species: What You Can Do Right Now
This month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (I.U.C.N.) added the Migratory Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus plexippus) to its “Red List of Threatened Species”, classifying it as endangered. Perhaps there is no better time than the present to have a look at the virtues of replacing areas of mowed and manicured grass with a wildflower garden or meadow that provides essential breeding and feeding habitat for Monarchs and hundreds of other species of animals.
![Monarch on Common Milkweed Flower Cluster Monarch on Common Milkweed Flower Cluster](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Monarch-on-Common-Milkweed-045-Copy.jpg)
If you’re not quite sure about finally breaking the ties that bind you to the cult of lawn manicuring, then compare the attributes of a parcel maintained as mowed grass with those of a space planted as a wildflower garden or meadow. In our example we’ve mixed native warm season grasses with the wildflowers and thrown in a couple of Eastern Red Cedars to create a more authentic early successional habitat.
![Comparison of Mowed Grass to Wildflower Meadow Comparison of Mowed Grass to Wildflower Meadow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Mowed-Lawn-vs-Wildflower-Meadow-Copy-Copy.png)
Still not ready to take the leap. Think about this: once established, the wildflower planting can be maintained without the use of herbicides or insecticides. There’ll be no pesticide residues leaching into the soil or running off during downpours. Yes friends, it doesn’t matter whether you’re using a private well or a community system, a wildflower meadow is an asset to your water supply. Not only is it free of man-made chemicals, but it also provides stormwater retention to recharge the aquifer by holding precipitation on site and guiding it into the ground. Mowed grass on the other hand, particularly when situated on steep slopes or when the ground is frozen or dry, does little to stop or slow the sheet runoff that floods and pollutes streams during heavy rains.
What if I told you that for less than fifty bucks, you could start a wildflower garden covering 1,000 square feet of space? That’s a nice plot 25′ x 40′ or a strip 10′ wide and 100′ long along a driveway, field margin, roadside, property line, swale, or stream. All you need to do is cast seed evenly across bare soil in a sunny location and you’ll soon have a spectacular wildflower garden. Here at the susquehannawildllife.net headquarters we don’t have that much space, so we just cast the seed along the margins of the driveway and around established trees and shrubs. Look what we get for pennies a plant…
![Wildflower Garden Wildflower Garden](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Wildflower-Garden-008-Copy.jpg)
Here’s a closer look…
![Lance-leaved Coreopsis Lance-leaved Coreopsis](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Lance-leaved-Coreopsis-112-Copy.jpg)
![Black-eyed Susan Black-eyed Susan](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Black-eyed-Susan-084-Copy.jpg)
![Black-eyed Susan "Gloriosa Daisy" Black-eyed Susan "Gloriosa Daisy"](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Gloriosa-Daisy-082-Copy.jpg)
![Purple Coneflower Purple Coneflower](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Purple-Coneflower-085-Copy.jpg)
![Common Sunflower Common Sunflower](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Common-Sunflower-153-Copy.jpg)
![Common Sunflower Common Sunflower](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Common-Sunflower-154-Copy.jpg)
All this and best of all, we never need to mow.
Around the garden, we’ve used a northeast wildflower mix from American Meadows. It’s a blend of annuals and perennials that’s easy to grow. On their website, you’ll find seeds for individual species as well as mixes and instructions for planting and maintaining your wildflower garden. They even have a mix specifically formulated for hummingbirds and butterflies.
![Annuals in Bloom Annuals in bloom](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/annuals-in-bloom-5876-Copy.jpg)
![Wildflower Seed Mix Wildflower Seed Mix](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AM-NE-wildflower-seed-mix-5668-Copy.jpg)
Nothing does more to promote the spread and abundance of non-native plants, including invasive species, than repetitive mowing. One of the big advantages of planting a wildflower garden or meadow is the opportunity to promote the growth of a community of diverse native plants on your property. A single mowing is done only during the dormant season to reseed annuals and to maintain the meadow in an early successional stage—preventing reversion to forest.
For wildflower mixes containing native species, including ecotypes from locations in and near the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, nobody beats Ernst Conservation Seeds of Meadville, Pennsylvania. Their selection of grass and wildflower seed mixes could keep you planting new projects for a lifetime. They craft blends for specific regions, states, physiographic provinces, habitats, soils, and uses. Check out these examples of some of the scores of mixes offered at Ernst Conservation Seeds…
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- Pipeline Mixes
- Pasture, Grazing, and Hay Mixes
- Cover Crops
- Pondside Mixes
- Warm-season Grass Mixes
- Retention Basin Mixes
- Wildlife Mixes
- Pollinator Mixes
- Wetland Mixes
- Floodplain and Riparian Buffer Mixes
- Rain Garden Mixes
- Steep Slope Mixes
- Solar Farm Mixes
- Strip Mine Reclamation Mixes
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We’ve used their “Showy Northeast Native Wildflower and Grass Mix” on streambank renewal projects with great success. For Monarchs, we really recommend the “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”. It includes many of the species pictured above plus “Fort Indiantown Gap” Little Bluestem, a warm-season grass native to Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and milkweeds (Asclepias), which are not included in their northeast native wildflower blends. More than a dozen of the flowers and grasses currently included in this mix are derived from Pennsylvania ecotypes, so you can expect them to thrive in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.
![Swamp Milkweed Swamp Milkweed](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Swamp-Milkweed-820.jpg)
![Monarch Caterpillar Feeding on Swamp Milkweed Monarch Caterpillar feeding on Swamp Milkweed](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00161-e1502054123300-1024x820.jpg)
![Butterfly Weed Butterfly Weed](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Butterflyweed-163-Copy.jpg)
![Tiger Swallowtails Visiting Butterfly Weed Tiger Swallowtails visiting Butterfly Weed](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Butterflyweed-027-Copy.jpg)
In addition to the milkweeds, you’ll find these attractive plants included in Ernst Conservation Seed’s “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”, as well as in some of their other blends.
![Wild Bergamot Wild Bergamot](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Wild-Bergomot-052.jpg)
![Oxeye Oxeye](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Oxeye-5764-Copy.jpg)
![Plains Coreopsis Plains Coreopsis](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Plains-Coreopsis-5743-Copy.jpg)
![Gray-headed Coneflower Gray-headed Coneflower](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Gray-headed-Coneflower-5829-Copy.jpg)
![Monarch on Goldenrod Monarch on goldenrod.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Monarch-on-Goldenrod-139.jpg)
![Partridge Pea Partridge Pea](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Partridge-Pea141-Copy.jpg)
![Indiangrass Indiangrass in flower.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Indiangrass-5725-Copy-2.jpg)
Why not give the Monarchs and other wildlife living around you a little help? Plant a wildflower garden or meadow. It’s so easy, a child can do it.
![Planting a Riparian Buffer Planting a riparian buffer with wildflowers and warm-season grasses](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/casting-seed-mixed-with-sand.jpg)
![Riparian Buffer in Bloom Riparian Buffer of wildflowers](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Wildflower-Planting-along-stream-after-sediment-removal.jpg)
![Monarch Pupa Monarch Pupa](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Monarch-Pupa-on-Miscanthus-1024x768.jpg)
Fussy Eaters
She ate only toaster pastries…that’s it…nothing else. Every now and then, on special occasions, when a big dinner was served, she’d have a small helping of mashed potatoes, no gravy, just plain, thank you. She received all her nutrition from several meals a week of macaroni and cheese assembled from processed ingredients found in a cardboard box. It contains eight essential vitamins and minerals, don’t you know? You remember her, don’t you?
Adult female butterflies must lay their eggs where the hatched larvae will promptly find the precise food needed to fuel their growth. These caterpillars are fussy eaters, with some able to feed upon only one particular species or genus of plant to grow through the five stages, the instars, of larval life. The energy for their fifth molt into a pupa, known as a chrysalis, and metamorphosis into an adult butterfly requires mass consumption of the required plant matter. Their life cycle causes most butterflies to be very habitat specific. These splendid insects may visit the urban or suburban garden as adults to feed on nectar plants, however, successful reproduction relies upon environs which include suitable, thriving, pesticide-free host plants for the caterpillars. Their survival depends upon more than the vegetation surrounding the typical lawn will provide.
The Monarch (Danaus plexippus), a butterfly familiar in North America for its conspicuous autumn migrations to forests in Mexico, uses the milkweeds (Asclepias) almost exclusively as a host plant. Here at Conewago Falls, wetlands with Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and unsprayed clearings with Common Milkweed (A. syriaca) are essential to the successful reproduction of the species. Human disturbance, including liberal use of herbicides, and invasive plant species can diminish the biomass of the Monarch’s favored nourishment, thus reducing significantly the abundance of the migratory late-season generation.
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00161-e1502054123300-1024x820.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Monarch-Pupa-on-Miscanthus-1024x768.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/sample-077-1024x768.jpg)
Butterflies are good indicators of the ecological health of a given environment. A diversity of butterfly species in a given area requires a wide array of mostly indigenous plants to provide food for reproduction. Let’s have a look at some of the species seen around Conewago Falls this week…
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00166-e1502059134576-1024x755.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00228-e1502060529552-1024x771.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00443-Copy.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00412-e1502061200113-1024x763.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00148-e1502062079348-1024x754.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00428-1024x768.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00423-e1502064368530-1024x716.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00592-Copy.jpg)
The spectacularly colorful butterflies are a real treat on a hot summer day. Their affinity for showy plants doubles the pleasure.
By the way, I’m certain by now you’ve recalled that fussy eater…and how beautiful she grew up to be.
SOURCES
Brock, Jim P., and Kaufman, Kenn. 2003. Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, NY.