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Nature Notes: Snapshots of the Wildlife in our Gardens

By Aaron Anderson, Staci Cibotti, Sharon Selvaggio, Emily May, Aimee Code on 17. October 2024
Aaron Anderson, Staci Cibotti, Sharon Selvaggio, Emily May, Aimee Code

This morning it was quite apparent that fall has arrived, at least here in the Pacific Northwest. Looking out the front window, yellow and red leaves outnumber green on the street trees. A few purple aster flowers are still blooming in my pollinator garden, but most plants have begun to senesce and brown.

Now that the warmer months have drawn to a close, my colleagues on the pesticide reduction team are reflecting on their favorite memories from the garden this season. These are snapshots of the type of life that you can foster in your yard by creating habitat and protecting the creatures that live there from pesticides.
 

Natural pest control for milkweed 

By Staci Cibotti

If you, like me, grow milkweed in your garden to support monarch butterflies, you're probably familiar with the bright orange sap-suckers known as oleander aphids. It can be frustrating to see this non-native pest marring the plants you've carefully cultivated.

But before reaching for pesticides, take a closer look - you might discover a fascinating ecosystem with its own defenses. Each morning, as I tend to my garden and search for signs of monarch activity, I also keep an eye out for other beneficial insects.

Recently, I leaned in for a closer inspection of my narrowleaf milkweed and was rewarded with an interesting sight - tiny, delicate lacewing eggs suspended on slender stalks. These future predators would soon feast on the aphids infesting my milkweed and would likely disperse to other plants to help manage more pests in my garden. I also noticed some aphids had become bloated and darkened, clear evidence of parasitism by tiny wasps working to keep the aphid population in check.

This intricate balance of nature filled me with a renewed sense of responsibility to protect these natural allies. By avoiding pesticides, I can encourage beneficial insects of all kinds to thrive, fostering a healthy, balanced ecosystem right in my own backyard.

 

A milkweed plant covered in orange aphids along its stem and leaves. However, a few leaves also carry quite a few tiny white eggs, suspended from the leaf itself by a thin stalk.
Once the many lacewings hanging from this leaf hatch, they will make quick work of the aphids. Eliminating pesticides allows beneficial insects like lacewings to thrive, and keep pests in check. (Photo: Staci Cibotti).

 

Blackberries and bumble bees are a reminder to avoid pesticides

By Sharon Selvaggio

Before I knew what a “mass-flowering plant” was, I was already growing marionberries and thornless blackberries in my garden. I enjoy them in pies, jams, and blackberry fool, but above all, for breakfast smoothies. 

In late spring, bloom happens and my 20-foot row of berries becomes a magnet for hundreds of bumble bees. When bees head out to visit flowers, they tend to visit just one species of plant on each trip, a behavior called “flower constancy”. My masses of berry blooms give them access to thousands of flowers containing pollen and nectar, all in a small space.

When I prune back the branches, I leave some stems long. The pith disappears after some time, leaving a hollow space where stem-nesting bees can reproduce. 

I love how the bees and my family both benefit from these extremely productive plants, and pesticides would throw all of this out of balance. As a result, I just say no to pesticides.

 

Discovering the mark of leaf cutter bees

By Aaron Anderson

One of my favorite native wildflowers is Clarkia amoena. My side yard is full of its beautiful pink-purple flowers. Aptly named farewell-to-spring, it blooms from late May into the summer, visited by a wide diversity of bee species. But if you look closely at the flowers, you might see circular discs clipped out of the petals — leaf cutter bees often use bits of Clarkia petals to line the inside of their nests!

Of course, bees — including leaf cutter bees, collect pollen to bring back to feed their developing young.  Avoiding pesticide use in my garden not only protects the bees and other insects flying from flower to flower, but also their offspring, helping ensure that there will be more discs cut out of my Clarkia next year.

 

Leaf cutter bees have snipped multiple disc-sized pieces from these pink Clarkia aomena flowers
“Damaged” flower petals might be a sign that your garden is actually supporting leaf cutter bees! (Photo: Aaron Anderson).

 

A welcome indication of healthy bees

By Emily May

Over the years, I've spotted many species of bumble bees in my yard, from the common eastern bumble bee to the two-spotted, brown-belted, and half-black bumble bees. I've even been lucky enough to spot two rarer, at-risk, species: the golden northern bumble bee and the yellow-banded bumble bee, both of which show up in my yard on an annual basis.

One day while out watching my garden, I saw a bumble bee I didn’t recognize on my mountain mint. Like most of the other bumble bees I've spotted in the yard, it had black and yellow hairs, but the underside of its abdomen was almost concave, instead of round.

With a closer look and the help of experts on iNaturalist, I was able to identify it as the lemon cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus citrinus). Cuckoo bumble bees do not build their own nests or gather pollen; instead, these social parasites take advantage of the work of other species to raise their young.

Rather than being upset by the presence of this bee, I was thrilled! Because these bees depend on other species for their survival, making them a great example of something called an indicator species.  Cuckoo bumble bees are only found in areas where their host species are stable and abundant, so seeing them is a good sign that I am supporting a healthy population of other bumble bees. I hope to see it again!
 

Like a cuckoo bird, this cuckoo bee doesn't build its own nests. Instead, they lay their eggs in another species’ nest. (Photo: Emily May).

 

Saving roses with pollinator-friendly plant care  

By Aimee Code

Most of my landscaping is full of native shrubs and perennials but I do still have a few remnant plants from the previous owners, including a lovely rose. However, this spring I noticed black spots on the rose leaves. I knew I had to act quickly, but in a way that didn’t expose the pollinators in my garden to pesticides.

Thankfully, all it took was some thoughtful pruning! To contain the disease, I trimmed off all the discolored leaves, and repeated that process every couple of weeks.  I made sure to keep these trimming out of my compost pile, to avoid spreading the disease.

My rose bush was healthy all season! Late in the summer, I noticed that leaf cutter bees were using the healthy rose leaves to line their nests. Had I used a fungicide or attempted some other chemical control, I could have exposed the bees to harm. 
 

A flowering rose in a garden, with petals fringed in pink but a warm orange in the center. Its leaves show marks where sections have been cut off by an insect.
This rose was saved without the use of pesticides! You can see a sign of just one of the pollinators I protected: the missing chunks of the leaves were used by leaf cutter bees as a nesting resource! (Photo: Aimee Code).

 

What have you noticed in your garden this year?

We hope you too can spend time outdoors, and pause to observe the amazing life that thrives all around us. If you have “nature notes” of your own to share with us, we’d love to hear them!
 

Learn how to bring more wildlife to your yard

Authors

Aaron Anderson

Aaron Anderson works with the public and Xerces staff to reduce pesticide use in residential landscapes, including promoting alternative pest control measures and pollinator-friendly gardening practices. Prior to joining Xerces in 2022, he researched pollinator conservation in urban landscapes, restored habitat for several endangered butterfly species, and worked in insect biocontrol. In 2021 he was an AAAS Mass Media Fellow at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he reported science and business stories.

Aimée Code

Aimée Code joined the Xerces Society in 2013 to direct its new pesticide program. In that role, she has built a program focused on securing practices and policies that promote ecologically sound pest management. She and her staff evaluate the risks of pesticides, develop technical guidance, and advocate for actions that reduce reliance on and risks of pesticide use in both urban and agricultural settings. Aimée received her master's of science in environmental health with a minor in toxicology from Oregon State University.

Emily May

Emily May is a Pollinator Conservation Specialist with the Xerces Society's Pesticide Program. She received a master's of science in entomology from Michigan State University, and has studied pollinator habitat restoration, bee nesting habits, and the effects of pest management practices on wild bee communities. Her work with Xerces since 2015 has focused on supporting crop pollinators through habitat creation and protecting bees and other beneficial insects from pesticides.

Sharon Selvaggio

Sharon assists Xerces staff, partners, and the public to reduce reliance on pesticides and understand pesticide risk to invertebrates. Sharon previously worked at Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service, and integrates her focus on pesticides with her experience managing natural areas and agricultural lands.

Staci Cibotti

Staci Cibotti (she/they) is a pesticide program specialist based in California who provides technical support on best practices for reducing pesticide risks to pollinators and their habitat in agricultural landscapes. Before joining Xerces in 2023, Staci received a Ph.D. in Entomology from The Pennsylvania State University. Their research focused on evaluating the impacts of neonicotinoid pesticides on monarch butterfly behavior, physiology, and host-plant interactions.

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