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Insects in a Backyard Prairie: Build It and They Will Come

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4/6/2014 Insects in a Backyard Prairie: Grow It and They Will Come Day of the Insects March 2014 Reiman Gardens, Ames The Setting • Less than 1/8 acre of a half-acre urban lot, landscaped & planted with over 50 spp. of native mid- & tallgrass plants, some woodland & a few wetlands spp. • Surrounded by “trashy” woods: hackberry, boxelder, garlic mustard, water hemlock, wild carrot, tree-of-heaven, common transitional natives • On south-facing slope above the Bill Riley Trail, Union Pacific railroad, Raccoon River, & Water Works Park in Des Moines 1 4/6/2014 2 4/6/2014 MARCH 22, 2014 3 4/6/2014 Phenology • Is not feeling the bumps on someone’s head to read their personality. • Also is not the study of the sounds in a language. • Nor is it study of prison systems. • It is the study of timing in the life cycles of biota – Aldo Leopold Those Pesky Dipterans • Most dipteran pollinators seem to be flower or hover flies (Syrphidae), • With some Tachinidae and other families • Also, a few not so attracted to flowers, but to other floral resources • A good nature lesson for children – Learn to relax when a hover fly checks you out – And when hymenopterans are around – Not everything should be swatted 4 4/6/2014 Eristalis arbustorum on False Boneset (Brickellia eupatorioides) Eristalis dimidiata On Heath Aster (Symphiotrichum ericoides) 5 4/6/2014 Eristalis transversa (Transverse Flower Fly) on Coreopsis sp. Eristalis tenax (Drone Fly) on Aster (Symphiotrichum sp.) 6 4/6/2014 Palpada sp. on Coreopsis sp. Heliophilus fasciatus on Heath Aster (Symphiotrichum ericoides) 7 4/6/2014 Platycheirus sp. Allograpta obliqua on Spotted Joe-Pye (Eutrochium maculatum) 8 4/6/2014 Eupeodes volucre on paperwork (cf. Papyrus searlesii) Toxomerus glomeratus on Coreopsis sp. 9 4/6/2014 Villa lateralis (Bombyliidae, Bee Flies) on Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) Condylostylus sp. (Dolichopodidae, Long- Legged Flies) on ?? 10 4/6/2014 Chrysopilus ornatus (Ornate Snipe Fly, Rhagionidae) on ?? Delphinia picta (Picture-Winged Fly, Ulidiidae) on house siding (Masonitus domesticus) 11 4/6/2014 • Note on taxonomy: – I learned some of my taxonomic nomenclature from The Roadrunner and The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show – The rest has come by osmosis, of which some has left by reverse osmosis Ravinia sp. (Sarcophagidae, Flesh Flies) on lawn furniture (Chairicus adirondackus) 12 4/6/2014 Trichopoda sp. (Feather-Legged Flies, Tachinidae) on Heath Aster (Symphiotrichum ericoides) Archytus apicifer (Tachinidae) on Rattlesnake-Master (Eryngium yuccifolium) 13 4/6/2014 Asphondylia rudbeckiaeconspicua (Cecidomyiinae, Gall Midges) gall on Yellow Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) Buccaneers of Buzz and other Hymenopterans • Apologies to Emily Dickinson – “Bees are Black, with Gilt Surcingles – – Buccaneers of Buzz. – Ride abroad in ostentation – And subsist on Fuzz” 14 4/6/2014 Melissodes sp. on Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) Andreniid or Mining Bee on Coreopsis sp. 15 4/6/2014 Agapostemon sp. on ?? Augochlora pura on ?? 16 4/6/2014 Halictus sp. on Pycnanthemum sp. Lasioglossum sp. on Coreopsis sp. 17 4/6/2014 Anthidium oblongatum on ?? Megachile sp. on Asclepias incarnata 18 4/6/2014 Apis mellifera on Solidago altissima Apis mellifera on Asclepias incarnata 19 4/6/2014 Bombus griseofulvus (Brown-Belted Bumble) on Monarda fistulosa Bombus cf. bimaculatus on Monarda fistulosa 20 4/6/2014 Bombus impatiens exiting Pink Turtlehead (Chelone) Bombus perplexus (Confusing Bumble) on Monarda fistulosa 21 4/6/2014 Bombus pensylvanicus (Eastern Bumble) on Baptisia sp. Long-Horned Bee on Homo sapiens 22 4/6/2014 Xylocopa sp.(Large Carpenter Bee) on Garden Basil (Ocimum sp.) Ammophila pictipennis on Solidago canadensis 23 4/6/2014 Eremnophila aureonotata on False Boneset (Brickellia eupatorioides) Chalybion californicum (Blue Mud Dauber) on Pycnanthemum sp. 24 4/6/2014 Prionyx sp. on Solidago canadensis Sphex ichneumoneus (Golden Digger Wasp) on Asclepias incarnata 25 4/6/2014 Sphex pensylvanicus (Great Black Wasp) on Pycnanthemum sp. Scolia bicincta (Double-Banded Scoliid) on Solidago canadensis 26 4/6/2014 Myzinum quinquecinctum on Solidago canadensis Ancistrocerus adiabatus on Solidago canadensis 27 4/6/2014 Eumenes fraternus on Garden Dill Polistes dominula (European Paper Wasp) on Tall Goldenrod (Solidago altissima) 28 4/6/2014 Polistes fuscatus (Northern Paper Wasp) on Tall Goldenrod (Solidago altissima) Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus (Sand Wasp) on Brickellia eupatorioides (False Boneset) 29 4/6/2014 Andricus gigas (Saucer Gall Wasp) on White Oak (Quercus alba) Andricus quercusflocci on White Oak (Quercus alba) 30 4/6/2014 Flutterbys & Skippers • All species to date are common and easily predicted in a residential area or young prairie restoration – Black & Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, Monarchs, Buckeyes, Cabbage Butterflies, Commas, American & Painted Ladies, Red Admirals, Eastern Tailed Blues, Gray Hairstreaks, Viceroys, Pearl Crescents, Orange & Clouded Sulphurs – Common Sootywings; Crossline, Fiery, & Least Skippers; & Sachems Dogius ignoramus domesticus MARCH 23, 2014 CONTROLLED, PERMITTED BURN 31 .
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