Michigan Native Plants that Attract Beneficial Insects & Pollinators

1. Midwest Michigan Native Plants that Attract Beneficial Insects & Pollinators Jim Jasinski, OSU Extension, IPM Program Anna Fiedler, Doug Landis JuliannaTuell, Rufus Isaacs Dept. of Entomology, Michigan State University Presented by

2. Presentation Goals Discuss “native plants” as they relate to … • Attracting natural enemies • Attracting pollinators • Seasonal flowering periods

3. Native Plants - Definition Strict - North American plants which grew in an ecosystem (or ecosystems) prior to 1492 AD (European influence). Open - Plants that develop, occur naturally, or have existed for many years in an area. These can be trees, flowers, grasses, etc. Excludes non-native invasives

4. Native Plants Benefits • Enhance native biodiversity • Less likely to be invasive • Adapted to local climate • Habitat permanency Disadvantages • Greater initial cost • Longer establishment time

5. Native Plants in the Landscape

6. alyssum buckwheat phacelia coriander Exotic Plants Benefits • Reliable seed or plant sources • Prolific floral display • Previous success in other locations Disadvantages • Do not enhance native biodiversity • May be invasive

7. Biological Control Pollination Decomposition Ecosystem Services Insects Provide Lawn care, Tree trimming, Landscaping

8. Native Plants Project Goals How do we “pay” insects for these services? Use native (or exotic) plants to provide beneficial insects with nectar and pollen. Decrease pesticide use and increase pollination and Bio C.

9. Midwest Beneficial Insects Common Bees in Michigan Julianna Tuell, Rufus Isaacs Anna Fiedler, Doug Landis Department of Entomology, Michigan State University

10. Why Are Bees Important? • Pollination in natural habitats • 80% of flowering plants require insects to transfer pollen in order to produce seeds. • Many insect-pollinated plants provide food for wildlife (e.g. berries).

11. Why Are Bees Important? • Pollinate 87 leading food and fiber crops

12. Major Bee Groups in the Eastern US • honey bees • bumble bees • carpenter bees • mason and leafcutter bees • sweat bees • digger / mining bees honey bee bumble bee leafcutter bee carpenter bee sweat bee digger bee

13. Honey bees (Apidae) • Native to Europe (NA ca. 1600’s). • First used for honey and wax production. • Most important bee in crop pollination because they are readily managed. • Not the most efficient pollinator of every crop. • Feral colonies have been decimated by diseases and mites. • Commercial beekeepers also have a difficult time with diseases and mites. • Can be inhibited by cooler weather. • Fortunately, many other kinds of bees can help pollinate crops. Apismellifera

14. Bumble bees (Apidae) • Medium (workers and drones) to large (queens) yellow or white and black. • A single queen produces a colony of workers. • Nest in abandoned rodent burrows or other cavities in the ground. • Commercially produced colonies now available. • Feed on many different flowers. Bombus spp.

15. Carpenter bees (Apidae) • Two distinct types: • large (often mistaken for bumble bee queens). • Small (metallic blue). • Most females are solitary, building and provisioning their own nests (no workers are produced). • Nest in wood or pithy stems. • Feed on many different flowers. Xylocopavirginiana Ceratina sp. Photo: J. Evans

16. Mason bees (Megachilidae) • Small to medium, bluish metallic or black with white hair on thorax, with dense abdominal hairs for carrying pollen. • Solitary, but often nesting in aggregations. • In nature, nesting in galleries made by beetles in wood or pithy stems; will readily nest in man-made straws. • Separate and cap off nest cells with mud. Osmia lignaria Orchard Mason Bee Photo: S. Bambara

17. Leafcutter bees (Megachilidae) • Medium, black, often with a striped abdomen on which they collect pollen. • Solitary, nesting in aggregations. • Nest in galleries made by beetles in wood or pithy stems; will readily nest in man-made straws. • Cut leaf sections from soft-leafed plants to make nests. leaf capsule in hollowed twig Megachile spp.

18. Digger & Mining bees (Andrenidae andAnthophoridae) • Small to large bees with very hairy hind legs. • Solitary, nest in soil. • Usually one generation produced per season. • May visit many different flowers, or will collect pollen from only a few related plant species. Andrena spp.

19. Sweat bees (Halictidae) • Three size/color groups: • Medium-sized, brown, with or without stripes • Small to medium, metallic green • Small bronze/golden metallic • Solitary and social species. • Some produce several generations per season. • Most nest in soil; some in soft wood. • Visit many different flowers. Lasioglossum sp. Halictus sp. Agapostemon spp.

20. Bee-friendly Practices • Provide floral resources. • Provide nesting resources. • Provide clean water source. • Reduce insecticide use. • Use bee-safe insecticides if pest control is necessary. • Minimize use of herbicides.

21. Beneficial Insects - Natural Enemies • Predators: eat many prey in a lifetime, feeding both as young and as adults. • Parasitoids: specialized insects that develop as a young in one host, eventually killing it. • Pathogens: nematodes, viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoans.

22. Types of Biological Control • Classical: introduction of non-native natural enemy to control a pest population. • Augmentative: periodically increase natural enemy population with an artificially reared release. • Conservation: maintain or enhance existing natural enemy populations.

23. What do beneficial insects need? Alternate Hosts / Prey Food (from plants) Nectar Pollen Sap, honeydew Shelter (from plants) Moderated microclimates In-season refuges Overwintering sites

24. Natural Enemies Collected at Flowers 7% 30% 25% 11% 2005 data

25. Study Details Question: Can native plants attract pollinators and natural enemies with an alternate food source, such nectar and pollen? -Selected 43 native Michigan plants based on their reported bloom period -All of the species selected historically grew in prairie or savanna habitats to increase biodiversity -Planted 3,650 ft strips of flowering plants at two organic sites in the fall 2004, spring 2005 and spring 2006 -Data presented are the 26 best performing plants from 2005 Disclaimer: Some native plants attract pests, such as leafhoppers, thrips, froghoppers, weevils, aphids, root-maggot flies, etc.

26. Key to Relative Abundance Insects collected from weekly 30 second / meter square suction samples taken when the plants were in bloom -Early, Peak, Late Numbers reflect activity at peak bloom Natural enemies: Small means less than 2 insects / sample Medium indicates 2 to 10 insects / sample Large means greater than 10 insects / sample Bee attraction ratings: Low numbers (<1 bee / m sq. in a 30 second sample) Moderate numbers (between 1-5 bees / m sq. in a 30 second sample) High numbers (>5 bees / m sq. in a 30 second sample)

27. Bloom Period Natural Native plant Bees enemies May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct «« « wild strawberry ««« «« golden Alexanders ««« « Canada anemone «« «« penstemon ««« « angelica ««« « cow parsnip ««« « sand coreopsis ««« « shrubby cinquefoil ««« « Indian hemp «« «« late figwort «« «« swamp milkweed «« ««« Culver's root ««« «« yellow coneflower « «« nodding wild onion ««« «« meadowsweet KEY « good «« better ««« best «« ««« yellow giant hyssop ««« «« horsemint «« «« Missouri ironweed ««« ««« cup plant «« «« pale Indian plantain ««« «« boneset ««« ««« blue lobelia ««« «« pale-leaved sunflower ««« ««« Riddell's goldenrod ««« «« New England aster «« «« smooth aster Bloom Timing of Native Plants Attractive to Beneficial Insects

28. Wild strawberry (Fragariavirginiana) • Natural enemies: • chalcid wasps • Bees: • sweat bees and small carpenter bees • Bloom: mid-late May

29. Golden alexanders (Zizia aurea) • Natural enemies: • chalcid wasps, dance flies • Bees: • yellow-faced bees, digger bees, • sweat bees, and cuckoo bees • Bloom: late May - mid June

30. Canada anemone (Anemone canadensis) • Natural enemies: • minute pirate bug, dance flies, chalcid wasps • Bees: • sweat bees • Bloom: throughout June

31. Penstemon (Penstemon hirsutus) • Natural enemies: • chalcid wasps and minute pirate bug • Bees: • large carpenter bees, small carpenter bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: late May - mid June

32. Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea) • Natural enemies: • chalcid wasps, dance flies, minute pirate bug • Bees: • sweat bees • Bloom: early June

33. Common cowparsnip (Heracleum maximum) • Natural enemies: • chalcid wasps and minute pirate bug • Bees: • yellow-faced bees and sweat bees • Bloom: mid June

34. Sand coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) • Natural enemies: • minute pirate bug and predatory thrips • Bees: • sweat bees • Bloom: June - August

35. Shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa) • Natural enemies: • minute pirate bug, chalcid wasps, spiders, dance flies • Bees: • yellow-faced bees and sweat bees • Bloom: July - September

36. Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum) • Natural enemies: • dance flies, chalcid wasps, crab spiders, lady beetles • Bees: • yellow-faced bees and sweat bees • Bloom: late June - July

37. Sunlight sun shade Range Moisture dry wet Range Late figwort (Scrophularia marilandica) • Natural enemies: • dance flies • Bees: • yellow-faced bees, sweat bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: late July – early August

38. Sunlight sun shade Range Moisture dry wet Range Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) • Natural enemies: • chalcid wasps, dance flies • Bees: • yellow-faced bees, sweat bees, and large carpenter bees; also highly attractive to honey bees • Bloom: mid July – mid August

39. Sunlight sun shade Range Moisture dry wet Range Culver’s-Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) • Natural enemies: • minute pirate bug • Bees: • sweat bees, small carpenter bees, and bumble bees; also highly attractive to honey bees • Bloom: late July – early August

40. Yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) • Natural enemies: • chalcid wasps, minute pirate bug, spiders • Bees: • sweat bees, digger bees, cuckoo bees, small and large carpenter bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: late July – mid August

41. Sunlight sun shade Range Moisture dry wet Range Nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum) • Natural enemies: • minute pirate bug, crab spiders • Bees: • sweat bees and bumble bees; also highly attractive to honey bees • Bloom: throughout August

42. Meadowsweet (Spiraea alba) • Natural enemies: • minute pirate bug and chalcid wasps • Bees: • yellow-faced bees, digger bees, sweat bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: throughout August

43. Yellow giant hyssop (Agastache nepetoides) • Natural enemies: • minute pirate bug, predatory plant bug, spiders, dance flies, chalcid wasps • Bees: • yellow-faced bees, sweat bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: throughout August

44. Horsemint (Monarda punctata) • Natural enemies: • soldier beetle, predatory plant bug • Bees: • large carpenter bees, digger bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: throughout August

45. Ironweed (Vernonia missurica) • Natural enemies: • chalcid wasps • Bees: • sweat bees, leafcutter bees, cuckoo bees, small carpenter bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: throughout August

46. Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) • Natural enemies: • chalcid wasps, minute pirate bug, soldier beetle, predatory plant bug • Bees: • sweat bees, leafcutter bees, small carpenter bees, digger bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: throughout August

47. Sunlight sun shade Range Moisture dry wet Range Pale Indian plantain (Cacalia atriplicifolia) • Natural enemies: • minute pirate bug, chalcid wasps, soldier beetle • Bees: • sweat bees, digger bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: throughout August

48. Common boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) • Natural enemies: • minute pirate bug, predatory plant bug, chalcid wasps, soldier beetle, spiders • Bees: • sweat bees, small carpenter bees, digger bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: August – early September

49. Blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) • Natural enemies: • minute pirate bug, chalcid wasps, soldier beetle, lady beetles, predatory plant bug • Bees: • yellow-faced bees, sweat bees, small carpenter bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: August – early September

50. Pale-leaved sunflower(Helianthus strumosus) • Natural enemies: • chalcid wasps, soldier beetle, minute pirate bug, crab spiders • Bees: • sweat bees, digger bees, and bumble bees • Bloom: August – early September