How to Conserve Beneficial in Backyard Gardens Dr. A. B. Bennett, NMSU Beetles

BEES Butterflies Today’s Outline

 What is a beneficial ?  Why do I care if I have beneficial insects in my backyard?  What do beneficial insects need?

 Designing backyard habitat? Is MY backyard important?  Does backyard habitat really make a difference? What is a beneficial insect

 Insects that do not cause damage and provide valuable services to us ….

What does I know…. that mean? I know!! What are ecosystem services? Ecosystem Services:  Properties of ecosystems that directly or indirectly benefit humans

Biocontrol

Food and Fuel Pollination

Water regulation Ecosystem Services Carbon cycling

Nutrient cycling Aesthetic beauty

Recreation Ecosystem services provided by beneficial insects include:

 Services are provided for free  If not, we pay

Biocontrol

Food and Fuel Pollination

Water regulation Ecosystem Services Carbon cycling

Nutrient cycling Aesthetic beauty

Recreation Biological Control • Use of natural enemies to keep pest populations low • Natural enemies: predators and parasitoids Beneficial Insects - Predators

Natural enemies: Predators

• Larvae are predaceous but not adults Source: Purdue Extension o Examples: Syrphid fly; green lacewings; wasps • Adults and larvae are predaceous o Examples: Coccinellid beetles; staphylinid beetles; minute pirate bugs; tiger beetles, assassin bugs; brown lacewing; ambush bugs; carabids; praying mantis, dragonfly; robber fly

Photo: Kathy Keatley Garvey Source: Purdue Extension Ladybird Beetles New Mexico native ladybird beetles New Mexico exotic ladybird beetles

1. Convergent 1. Seven-spot (Asia) 2. Parenthesis 2. Multicolored (Asia) 3. Ashy-grey  Overwinters as adults often in your house!

In General:  Overwinter as adults  Often in aggregations  Overwinters • In hedgerows • Under rocks/bark • In buildings Beneficial Insects - Parasitoids

Natural enemies: Parasitoids • Larvae are predaceous – Feed and develop in host o Internal – Aphelind; Triochogramma o External – Braconid • Adults feed on pollen and nectar Pollination

 Beneficial insects include:  Natural Enemies o Predators BEES o Parasitoids

 Beneficial insects include:  Pollinators BUTTERFLIES BETTLES Pollination

 Beneficial insects include: Transfer pollen  Natural Enemies o Predators BEES o Parasitoids

 Beneficial insects include: BUTTERFLIES  Pollinators

BETTLES Beneficial Insects - Pollinators Butterflies of New Mexico: Fun Facts • 352 species • 3rd highest species ranking • After AZ (364); Texas (475) • 18 species documented in every county • Why so many species? • Many different habitats • Several precipitation ranges • Some common species • Western Tiger Swallowtail • Orange Sulphur • Painted Lady • Mourning cloak Pollinators - Butterflies

1. Western Swallowtail 4. Mourning Cloak • Overwinters as pupa • Overwinters as adult • Larval host: Cottonwood, birch, elm • Larval hosts: Cottonwood, willow • Adult host: Lilac, Joe Pye, milkweed hackberry, aspen 2. Painted Lady • Adult hosts: Tree sap esp. oak, rotting • Overwinters as pupa fruit • Larval host: Asteracea, Malvacea 5. Desert Elfin (hollyhock, globe mallow) • Overwinters as pupa • Adult hosts: Thistle, aster, ironweed, • Larval hosts: Rosaceae blazing star, Joe Pye, milkweed 6. Poling’s Hairstreak 3. Orange Sulfur • Restricted to 3 mountain ranges • Overwinters as pupa • 1 is Organ Mountains, NM • Larval host: Legumes (, clover) • Overwinters as egg • Adult host: Milkweed, asters, • Larval hosts: Gray and Emory Oak goldenrods Pollinators - Bees Bee Facts: • 4000 species in US • 1000+ species in NM 4000!!! • Some are social (HB & BB) • Most are solitary • Live and work alone • Nest in soil & stems • In NM help pollinate crops • Alfalfa (for seed) • Watermelon • Cotton 1051!!! • Chile • Fruit trees/Backyard gardens Pollinators – Bumble Bees Bumble Bee Facts: • 250 species worldwide • 50 species in US • Truly social – Queen and workers • Buzz pollinate tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, blueberry • Visit twice as many flowers as honey bees • Work 8 times more than honey bees • One of first to be active in spring and last active in fall • Active at cooler temps and light rain Who overwinters? Mated females who establish next years colonies Where do they nest? Underground in preexisting cavities like rodent holes, piles of wood, or in leaf litter Pollinators – Bumble Bees Common NM Bumble Bees • Bombus huntii, Hunt Bumble Bee  Favorite plants: Rubbeckia (blackeyed susan), Penstemon, Cirsium (thistle), Placelia • Bombus morrisoni, Morrison Bumble Bee  Favorite plants: Cirsium, (spider flowers; Rocky Mountain bee plant), , Lupinus, (e.g. rabbitbrush) • Bombus appositus, White shouldered Bumble Bee  Favorite plants: Delphinium, Linaria (e.g. butter & eggs), Trifolium, Geranium, Penstemon • Bombus fervidus, Yellow Bumble Bee  Favorite plants: Penstemon, Phacelia (scorpionweed), Heliathus, Trifolium • Bombus rufocinctus, Red Belt Bumble Bee  Favorite plants: Cirsium, Aster, Tanacetum (common tansy) Pollinators – Osmia Bees Osmia Facts: • In the family Megachilidae • Common name: Mason bees • 500 species worldwide • 130 species in US more common in Western US • Very important pollinator of orchard crops: cherry, apples, almonds • Osmia linaria, Blue Orchard Bee, is a excellent commercial pollinator • Osmia lignaria is more efficient pollinator of apple, almond, plums & cherry compared to HB. A crop needing 90,000 HB can be pollinated with <300 Osmia • Osmia means odor; Each individual Osmia female produces a unique scent to mark her nest Pollinators – Osmia Bees

Where do they nest? • Empty cavities • Old beetle burrows, hollow stems, cracks in stone • Ability to nest in preexisting holes makes it easy to provide nesting habitat • Gather mud to partition nest cells • Each cell gets a pollen ball and 1 egg

What do they eat? • Most are generalists • Favor plants with tubular flowers; Beardtongues, mints, peas • Some specialize on the Rose family; apples, plums, cherries Native Bees Families - Halictidae

Halictid: • Widespread and abundant • 3500 species; 76 genera worldwide • In US 16 genera • Extreme specialists and generalists • Ground nesters • Solitary, communal, semisocial & social o Social - Cooperative brood-care, overlapping generation, division of labor o Semisocial – Same nest, cooperative brood-care, division of labor, NO overlapping generations Native Bees Families - Halictidae Halictids as pollinators: Agapostemon: • Bright metallic green • All are generalists o Frequent sunflower family Halictus • Sip sweat = sweat bees • Generalists • May be important pollinators of carrot, onion, sunflower Native Bees Families - Halictidae Augochlorella

Agapostemon

Reference: Bee Basics: An Introduction to our Native Bees: Moiseet & Buchmann Backyard habitat for Beneficial Insects What you need to consider when designing habitat for beneficial insects:

1. What to plant • Preferred plants o Adults and larvae

2. Alternative Prey

3. Where they nest or lay eggs

4. Their life cycle • Where do they overwinter • What life stage overwinters What do beneficial insects need?  Food o Pollen o Nectar o Plants - larvae How can you attract beneficial insects? Flowers 1.Diversity of flowers  Color: purples, pinks, yellows  Shapes: open and tubular  Sizes >>> landing  Different nectar and pollen 2.Season long flowering  Spring, summer, fall Pollinators Types of bees 1. Short tongue  Sweat bee  Open flowers 2. Long tongue  Bumble bee  Tubular flowers Native plants

Why use native plants? 1. Adapted to soils & climate 2. Evolved with native pollinators 3. Once established, require little water or fertilizer 4. Few pest & disease problems: limit chemical use

Avoid cultivars 1.Selected for flowers 1.Size, color, double 2. Less nectar 3.Less pollen 4. Less scent What to Plant Spring  Penstemon palmeri, Palmer Penstemon  Penstemon strictus, Rocky Mountain  Fallugia paradoxa, Apache Plume; spreader  Achillea millefolium, Common Yarrow  Stanleya pinnata, Golden Princes plum  Trees and Shrubs What to Plant

Summer 1. asperula, Antelope Milkweed* 2. Asclepias tuberosa, Butterfly Milkweed* 3. Baileya multiradiata, Desert Marigold 4. Dalea purpurea, Purple Prairie Clover 5. Gaillardia pinnatifida – Red Dome Blanketflower 6. Monarda citriodora – Lemon Bee Balm 7. Ratibida columnifera – Mexican Hat 8. Sphaeralcea angustifolia – Narrowleaf Globemallow 9. Verbena stricta – Hoary Verbena What to Plant

Summer 10. Liatris punctata, Dotted Blazing Star 11. Penstemon ambiguus, Sand Penstemon 12. Glandularia bipinnatifida, Prairie Verbena 13. Oxytropis lambertii – Purple Locoweed* 14. Eriogonum jamesii – Antelope Sage 15. Eriogonum raceosum – Red Root Buckwheat 16. Coreopsis lanceolate – Sand Coreopsis What to Plant? Fall 1. Salvia azurea var grandifolia , Blue Sage 2. Solidago nemoralis, Gray Goldenrod 3. Symphyotrichum foliaceum, Leafy Aster 4. Monarda citriodora, Lemon Mint - Annual 5. Agastache pallidiflora, Bill Williams Hyssop 6. Ipomopsis aggregata, Scarlet Gilla 7. nauseosa, Rabbitbrush Pollinators  Butterflies o Adults need nectar o Larva need host plants o Trees and shrubs of different heights >>> complex canopy

Common name Scientific name - Genus Caterpillars attracted Birch Betula spp. Mourning cloak Clover Trifolium spp. Sulphurs Cottonwood Populus spp. Tiger swallowtails Dill (annual) Anethum graveolens Black swallowtails Hollyhock (biennial) Alcea spp. Painted Lady, Checkered skipper Milkweed Asclepias spp. Monarch Snapdragon (annual) Antirrhinum spp. Buckeye Violet Viola spp. Fritillaries Willow Salix spp. Mourning cloak, Viceroy Hibiscus Hibiscus spp. Gray hairstreak, Common checkered skipper What do pollinators need?

 Nesting Habitat o Soil o Stems Natural Nesting Habitat

Bees: • Ground nesting o Bare patches of soil o Mounds of soil – nesting and nest material o Area of packed dirt for mud >>> nest modification

• Stem nesting o Leave dried stems in garden o Yucca is good for Xylocopa o Leave logs and other woody debris o Broad leaved plants  Nesting material for leaf cutter bees What do natural enemies need? Pollen and nectar Overwintering habitat  Backyard o Leaf litter / brush piles o Shrub borders  Farm setting o Field margins – Perennial; floral resources; do not mow o Beetle banks / Buffer strips Alternative Prey What do natural enemies need? Pollen and nectar Overwintering habitat  Backyard o Leaf litter o Shrub borders • Needed to keep NE populations high • Ready to attack and suppress pests  Farm setting • Examples: Eggs, larvae, aphids o Field margins o Buffer strips o Beetle banks Alternative Prey Natural Nesting Habitat

Other Tips: • Avoid pesticide use: Gardens and lawns • Artificial nesting for bees o Bee hotel or stem bundles o Placement: East facing, out of wind & rain, near floral resources o Overwintering options 1. Leave outside 2. Unheated barn/garage 3. Cover with a tarp o When possible, use paper straws and replace yearly o Change nest blocks or stem bundles 2-3 year to minimize parasites and pathogens Putting it all together Backyard habitat for beneficial insects:

 Start with a diverse plant community . Use native plants . Diversity of shapes, sizes, colors . Have season long flowering Putting it all together Backyard habitat for beneficial insects:  Start with a diverse plant community . Flowers – Pollen and nectar . Trees and shrubs o Larval food for butterflies o Trees early food for bees . Alternative prey for natural enemies

Supports alternative prey too Putting it all together

Backyard habitat for beneficial insects:

 Incorporate nesting and overwinter habitat . Nesting o Bare patches of ground o Stems: Raspberry; artificial bamboo . Overwintering o Brush pile o Leaf litter o Tree & shrub border Putting it all together

Backyard habitat for beneficial insects - Management  Expect and tolerate some damage  Protect beneficials from chemical applications . Don’t spray trees or flowers that are blooming . Spray at night; very early morning  Limit turf: leave the clover and dandelions  Leave some leaf litter  Provide sources of water Does backyard habitat manipulation work? Will I really get more beneficial insects? YES

Will I really get more beneficial insects ….turf management Will I really get more beneficial insects ….turf management Questions?