I WAS READING some of your blog entries, and I was wondering if you may be able to answer a question for me. While I have read that ladybug houses are beneficial, I can’t seem to keep wasps out of mine. I guess that the entrance makes a good place for a nest. I read what you said about keeping wasps away with mint, but will that hurt the ladybugs too? I want to try and use something as natural as possible as I don’t want chemicals everywhere. Plus I hate to kill the wasps I just don’t want them on my porch!
I KEEP hearing the same refrain lately: there are so few butterflies this year. Actually, it seems like that has been the case for the past several years, but even those people who don't usually notice such things are starting to remark on it this summer. (Black Swallowtail caterpillar) It was brought home to me as I was doing some yard work that, in addition to the usual culprits of pesticides and loss of habitat, our own gardening practices can have unintentional consequences. Although I grow many natives, there are some flower beds where I try to maintain control over the more aggressive host plants, letting them flourish only in the outlying areas.
I've learned to examine stalks of, for instance, Queen Anne's lace and milkweed before removing them, to check for egg cases or caterpillars, both before and after removing them. I try to get the roots so that, if I spot something after pulling the plant, I can pot it until the eggs have hatched or the caterpillar has moved on to another plant.
Two days ago, I noticed a gorgeous black swallowtail caterpillar on a non-host plant, so I knew that he had something in mind other than eating. Sure enough, when I checked the next day, he just wriggling into the last of his pupa, securely attached to the stem.
I never would have noticed the cocoon if I hadn't seen the caterpillar first, and I would have removed the stem with the spent flowers as I tidied up the garden, discarding the future butterfly onto the compost pile. The black swallowtail is one species that can overwinter in the pupa stage, so I carefully marked the stems in order to spare them until spring.
With butterfly populations struggling, we all need to be especially careful of what we're doing in our own gardens!
Cathy Gilleland WindStar National Master Naturalist Finksburg, MD
June 12, 2008
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'Insects: The Original White Meat'
An article that appeared in the latest WindStar Wildlife Garden Weekly.
I WAS reviewing the (American Wildlife) blog on wasp control and noticed you are in Myersville, MD. We recently moved from Middletown to the Cunningham Falls area. We are huge animal lovers and attempt to live in harmony any way we can. I put a small pond in some of the landscaping near the front of our house. In retrospect maybe not the best location, as wasps and yellow jackets have a nice highway in and out all day.
I saw the suggestion for using mint oil and think I will give that a try. Provided I keep up with it, do you find this pretty effective? Any other natural deterrents you find work?
APPLY a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20); the tick will come out on it's own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I've used it (and that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me. This is great, because it works in those places where it's sometimes difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc. Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see that this would be damaging in any way. Everyone needs this helpful hint.
"AIR POLLUTION interferes with the ability of bees and other insects to follow the scent of flowers to their source, undermining the essential process of pollination, a study by three University of Virginia researchers suggests. Their findings may help unlock part of the mystery surrounding the current pollination crisis that is affecting a wide variety of crops. Scientists are seeking to determine why honeybees and bumblebees are dying off in the United States and in other countries, and the new study indicates that emissions from power plants and automobiles may play a part in the insects' demise. Scientists already knew that scent-bearing hydrocarbon molecules released by flowers can be destroyed when they come into contact with ozone and other pollutants. Environmental sciences professor Jose D. Fuentes at the University of Virginia--working with graduate students Quinn S. McFrederick and James C. Kathilankal--used a mathematical model to determine how flowers' scents travel with the wind and how quickly they come into contact with pollutants that can destroy them. They described their results in the March issue of the journal Atmospheric Environment."
I JUST finished watching an excellent webcast on native bees. It runs a little longer than an hour--first 5 minutes is getting going but once the program starts it is great. If you have a chance to watch it, I would recommend it. Also the website has more info on attracting native bees and pollinators, including butterflies. Check out the publications section, many are on pdf files.
CATERPILLARS are probably almost as despised as snakes in the gardener’s plot. Although humans seem to have an innate fear of predatory animals, especially snakes, their fear of caterpillars stems from the misperception that caterpillars eat a gardener out of house and home. In the yard that is landscaped properly for wildlife, however, this assertion is not true. Few will survive to adulthood due to predation by other organisms. Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larvae of butterflies and moths. Most of them chew the leaves of plants to get the nutrition they need to fuel their growth and reach maturity. If all of our yards were “natural” areas, there would be a variety of plants and numerous specimens of each kind of plant for a female moth or butterfly to lay her eggs on.
The females of many kinds of moths and butterflies would then place only a few eggs on each plant so that there would be plenty of food for their offspring. These few caterpillars would not seriously harm their host plants so that it could flower and reproduce for the next generation of caterpillars.
But in the typical human’s yard, there is a clump of plants here and a different kind of clump of plants there, with each group containing very few plants. A female looking for a particular kind of plant to lay her eggs on (many species of caterpillars are plant-specific) might have very few plants to choose from in the typical suburban landscape. Out of desperation, she will have to lay her vast quantity of eggs on too few plants, thus causing severe damage to the plant and the possible starvation of the caterpillars.
So try to grow as many individuals of the same variety of plant as possible. Then female moths and butterflies may lay very few eggs per plant and their caterpillars will not do any serious harm. If you can not grow a large number of plants, it is still not wise to kill caterpillars if there are only a few, especially if you have not identified them.
Plants have evolved to sustain some insect “damage”, and, in fact, will recover quite nicely even if they are severely cut back by caterpillars. By allowing caterpillars—even large numbers of them—to feed for a couple of weeks, you avoid depriving yourself of the future pleasure of viewing some of the loveliest winged creatures on Earth.
IN YOUR GARDEN the "hover fly" is also called the flower fly by some. Yes, they are true members of the diptera or fly family. More than 6,000 species of hover fly have been identified world wide, with more than 900 species in North America. (Hover Fly on Dianthus)
What is a Hover Fly and why do I want them in my yard and gardens? I'm glad you asked. Hover flies serve double duty. Adult flies are pollinators, flying in and out of or flower beds and veggie gardens. To the uninformed or the untrained eye, many species of hover flies resemble wasps and bees in appearance.
A couple of sure ways to really know if it is a wasp/bee or a totally harmless hover fly is to observe. Like most flies, hover flies have those huge eyes. However, the real give away is the flight of a hover fly. Yes indeed, hover flies do indeed hover.
Like our hummingbirds, hover flies can move up and down, front and back. They hover, move side to side and do it on right now. Hover flies are unique as their wings operate much like a hummer.
While wasps/bees and many other insects have two sets of wings. hover flies operate with a single set of wings. Nature has provided several species of hover fly to look and act like a wasp or bee. Many have similar colors and markings. Some mimic a bee's actions and movements. Even to the point of pretending to sting. Hover flies lack extended antennae so some flies will extend their front legs to look like antennae.
Isn't "Nature" marvelous?
Hover flies or flower flies earn their weight in gold in the larval state. Many hover fly larvae spend time under water eating decaying plant material or hanging out on the floor of your gardens doing the same.
Many hover fly larvae are ravenous feeders on garden insects like thrips, aphids and other insects that suck the life out of your plants. They also attack the larvae of other insects as well. Yes, larvae or maggots of the hover fly are on the front lines of biological warfare in your gardens. Hover fly larvae eat more aphids than our beloved lady beetle.
More and more research is happening on biological warfare and beneficial insects. Millions of dollars in damage is done to crops every year by aphids alone and the humble hover fly larvae is now leading the way in chemical free battles.
These relatives of the house fly are truly a marvel in the garden. Before you swat, stomp or spray away, take a moment. Are you watching the mighty yet humble "Hover Fly"? Hover fly adults and larvae also provide a source of food to your backyard birds. I suppose this would make them an insect that pulls triple duty. --Gardening-for-Wildlife.com
Ronald Patterson Kentwood, MI Windstar Wildlife Habitat Naturalist Michigan Certified Nurseryman www.gardening-for-wildlife.com
CAN TINY WASPS from China help stop the seemingly invincible emerald ash borer (EAB) before it destroys Michigan's dwindling population of ash trees?
After three years of research at Michigan State University (MSU), scientists say it is time to find out. The size of a sesame seed, the stingerless wasps terrorize ash borers as they lay eggs in the larvae and eggs of EAB (Much like the "Alien" movies). Three weeks later, baby wasps emerge from their hosts to repeat the cycle. (Emerald Ash Borer adult)
If all goes well, scientists want to release hundreds of wasps near Lansing. EAB otherwise has no known natural predator.
Ken Rauscher, a division director with Michigan's Department of Agriculture is hoping all goes well and the USDA will approve the release. So far research shows the wasps only prey on EAB, not native ash borers and scientists want to remind everyone that these are non-stinging wasps and so far is the only biological hope for our ash trees.
EAB has infested half of Michigan, parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Ontario and confirmed reports in Maryland (I have seen the devastation first hand).
Biological warfare is common in nature, just look at lacewings, lady beetles etc. munching on aphids. Asian wasps and EAB. Same foes, different battlefield a half a world apart. The big question is adding another non native to try to control an invasive alien (we've been there before). Research shows that it is the only way and these non harmful wasps only prey on what is natural to them Asia's EAB.
However, these wasps appear to be the only hope right now for North America's ash trees according to the research team at MSU. Emerald ash borer is believed to have found its way here near Detroit in wood packing crates from Southeast Asia about 10 to 12 years ago.
Once a tree has been infested, it is to late to save it and scientists are counting on the wasps to help contain these terrible pests The Government would like to hear from you and what you think of the plan from now till June 22 at the government Web site: regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main Before you log on and rant about wasps and other things, consider this...in Michigan alone, we have lost over 20 million ash trees in a few short years to these insects and trying to control them.
As you can see, they are spreading and it could be like Dutch elm disease...wiping out hundreds of millions of ash trees as EAB cross the North American Continent. Because I'm in the middle of it here in Michigan, we do get some first hand info. These insects are nasty and need to be controlled. Winged invasive's can be the worst kind.
Ron Patterson Kentwood, Mi Windstar Certified Wildlife Habitat Naturalist Michigan Certified Nurseryman www.gardening-for-wildlife.com
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WindStar Wildlife Institute is a national non-profit conservation organization established in 1986. WindStar is a leader in "connecting people to nature through education." In 1999 the Board of Directors decided to move the headquarters to an award-winning, passive solar and earth sheltered structure, Terra Vista, near Myersville, MD. And, a new, four-acre demonstration wildlife habitat, containing all the elements and key components, was created for members and others to visit and to get ideas for their own properties. Each year new habitat components are added. The Institute is known for its award-winning environmental education and certification programs, web site, American Wildlife Blog and outstanding use of nature photography.
