Gaillardia World: Grasshoppers and Katydids

Considering that the surrounding prairie and prairie restorations were full of grasshoppers, it was notable that there were very few on the Gaillardia pulchella that volunteered in our front yard and by our barn. In fact, this clip is of the only one I saw during the summer and fall of 2022. The resolution isn't great, but the visitor appears to be a grasshopper nymph, enjoying a Gaillardia snack.

Grasshopper on Gaillardia pulchella, July 7, 2022.

Grasshoppers belong to the insect order Orthoptera. The name combines the Greek words for "straight" and "wing." Orthopterans include crickets and katydids, as well as grasshoppers, all having long hind legs used for jumping.

I did not see any katydids munching on Gaillardia, but in June the Gaillardia patch in our front yard was thronged with katydid nymphs, hunkered down on or near the soil. I saw them only if I approached the plants, in which case they leapt up and down like popcorn popping!

In the clips from late summer and early fall you can hear katydids trilling in the background, and you can hear crickets chirping nearby--but neither kind of Orthopteran was visible on Gaillardia plants.

Gaillardia World: True Bugs

 Bugs in the order Hemiptera are "True Bugs," distinguished from other insects by a rigid, straw-like proboscis and by a life cycle called "incomplete metamorphosis."  In other words, True Bugs hatch from eggs as "nymphs," or miniature versions of the adult forms, in contrast to insects that undergo complete metamorphosis, such as butterflies, that go from egg to larva to pupa to adult.    

Gaillardia pulchella hosted several varieties of True Bugs during the growing season of 2022.

These green bugs are members of the family Pentatomidae, called "Shield Bugs," for their armored appearance, or (much less respectfully) "Stink Bugs," for the unpleasant odor they can exude when threatened or frightened.  

This photo of a female Shield Bug shows a characteristic of insects 

in the order Hemiptera (meaning "half wings").  The upper part of 

the wings is leathery, while the bottom part is membranous.  

Note the black-tipped appendage coming down from her chin.

With it she can pierce the Gaillardia and suck up flower juice. 

Here are two Shield Bugs in action!    The clip starts with a female Shield Bug feeding on Gaillardia.   Then a male Shield Bug scuttles up the stem to join her.  He's in a hurry!     Audience alert--there's a whole lot of procreation going on.  

Green Shield Bugs on Gaillardia pulchella,

September 3, 2022.

Here is a freshly-molted Shield Bug from earlier in the season--with its colored exoskeleton not yet set:

Note the clear membranous "half-wing"

at the tail end of the wings.  

Newly-molted Shield Bug, July 17, 2022.

Here is a Small Milkweed Bug (Lygaeus kalmii).  These bugs do go to plants in the Sunflower Family (such as the Gaillardia pulchella pictured here)--though, as their name suggests, they are known for feeding on milkweeds and laying their eggs on milkweeds.

With this Hemipteran, the membranous bottom 

portion of the wings is black, with sometimes 

a white outline, as here.  This bug is a seedeater,

among other things, and perhaps that's 

why (s)he is sitting on the Gaillardia flowers 

that are going to seed, as opposed to the ones 

still blooming.  July 17, 2022.

Compared to other kinds of visitors to Gaillardia, True Bugs were few and far between.  And the ones pictured here appeared each only on a single day.

Gaillardia World: Moths

 By watching Gaillardia World, I encountered a species of moth new to me:  The Darker-Spotted Straw Moth, aka Heliothis phloxiphaga. This handsome individual came to the Gaillardia by our barn toward the end of the growing season, October 5, 2022:

Here is the Darker-Spotted Straw Moth in action:

H. phloxiphaga, October 15, 2022.

The Greek derivations of the Latin binomial Heliothis phloxiphaga would translate as "One who basks in the sun and feeds on flames."  Fancifully, that designation is appropriate in this case, as this sometimes-nocturnal moth is now out in the sunshine and is drinking nectar from orange and yellow flowers that flare out like flames.

Also appearing toward the end of the season was a gorgeous white moth that is still unidentified.  However, experts at BugGuide.net guess that this moth is a member of the sub-family Crambinae, Crambine Snout Moths.   Certainly to us amateurs, the appearance of this moth makes "snout moth" a logical possibility!

A blue-eyed, long-nosed moth on a Gaillardia seedhead,

October 15, 2022.

In addition, arriving in mid-October was Rachiplusia ou, an Owlet Moth (family Noctuidae).    Here is a shaky glimpse of Rachiplusia ou in action:

Another familiar moth that frequented the Gaillardia patch by the barn was Hymenia perspectalis, the Spotted Beet Webworm Moth.   It is a Crambid-Snout Moth, Family Crambidae.  

The downward pointing "teeth" on the white hindwing band distinguishes 

this moth from a look-alike also known as a "Beet Webworm Moth," which 

is also a Crambid Snout Moth, but in a different genus, Spoladea recurvalis.  

Here is Hymenia perspectalis in action:

A Spotted Beet Webworm Moth (Hymenia perspectalis) takes 

nectar from Gaillardia pulchella, October 15, 2022.  

Briefly resting on Gaillardia stems was a beautiful Plume Moth (Family Pterophoridae):

The front and hind wings are folded together while the Plume Moth is at rest, forming a "T."

This moth came to Gaillardia on July 27, 2022.  

All of these moths showed up in the day time.   How I would love to see how many nocturnal moths came at night!

Gaillardia World: Wasps

 There are so many different kinds of wasps.   Why I saw so few of them on Gaillardia pulchella this past summer, when Gaillardia was a magnet for so many other kinds of insects, I don't know. 

In June I saw a pair of wasps zig and zag through the Gaillardia in our front yard--but land on neighboring Salvia, a cultivated garden plant in the Mint Family:

  June 17, 2022

In July, several species of wasp visited Gaillardia briefly:

BugGuide.net identifies this wasp as a member of the Sub-Family

Eumeninae, Family Vespidae.   On the Gaillardia by the barn,

July 23, 2022.

Though wasps are major pollinators, this wasp is sneaking in as a "nectar thief," that is, breaking into the base of the flowers to get at the nectaries directly, while bypassing the pollen-laden anthers, and thus providing no pollination service to the plant.  

Another wasp came by on the same day, also a Mason or Potter Wasp, but this one BugGuide.net identified down to the genus Eudynerus.  

This one went for nectar in the more traditional way, diving down into the disk flowers past the pollen-laden anthers:  

July 23, 2022

And a third wasp also stopped by that day, this one identified by BugGuide.net as a member of the genus Polistes, Umbrella Paper Wasps, Sub-Family Polistinae, Family Vespidae.

Umbrella Paper Wasp, Sub-genus Fuscopolistes

July 23, 2022

None of these wasps returned a second day!  Despite Gaillardia's nourishing riches for other insects, Gaillardia flowers didn't appear to have what wasps were looking for.

Experts in the Kansas Arthropods Facebook group tell me that many things can influence wasps' choice of flowers to feed upon, from the match between their tongues and floral anatomy to the many colors which only wasps can see.   Wasps also want to keep an eye on their surroundings while they eat so hesitate to bury themselves in flowers.   

There are scientific studies showing that parasitic wasps prefer plants in the sunflower family  (Asteraceae), such as Gaillardia--but the wasps above are predatory, not parasitic.    So many factors involved!

It's a question carrying over to next year:  Are wasps really inclined to avoid Gaillardia?  Or did their absence this year represent observer-error or unique coincidences?

So many mysteries!!!

 

Gaillardia World: Bee Flies

This is a Bee Fly, family Bombyliidae, sub-family Anthracenae, feeding on Gaillardia pulchella. Nectar- and pollen-lovers, Bee Flies protect themselves from predators by mimicking bees in appearance. Perhaps predators ignore them to avoid a sting! Bee Fly larvae are parasitoids on earth-dwelling larvae of other insects. The two-toned wings are beautiful as is the subtle shading on the body.

Here is a Bee Fly, genus Geron, feeding on Gaillardia on August 1, 2022. The genus name may come from that thorax that creates a hump-backed appearance, a "dowager's hump." No doubt the word "gerontology" is related.

Gaillardia World: Appendix and Citations for "At Home on the Land? Welcome to Gaillardia World"

 

Appendix: Gaillardia pulchella for Pollinator Gardens   

The USDA lists Gaillardia pulchella as native to the lower 48, but that doesn’t mean that my experiences with this species will translate to other locations.   Who knows what conditions specific to my location made Gaillardia germinate so easily, attract so many insects, and bloom so long?   But my experiences make me optimistic about the chances.   It might be worth a try!

For many reasons, G. pulchella could be a good addition to native-plantings in populated areas.  Native plants don’t always comport with conventional landscaping standards.  G. pulchella is as self-directed as any wildflower, but it just happens to be conventionally beautiful as well.   While we are waiting for a more life-centered garden aesthetic to emerge, Gaillardia’s sheer loveliness and long blooming period may help to placate neighbors otherwise hostile to native plants. 

Then, when space is limited, it’s good to have plants that are especially good at interacting with the ecosystem.   Gaillardia is extraordinary in this respect.  All native plants have “Greater Selves” made up of the creatures that they need and that need them.   G. pulchella is in the Sunflower Family (Latin name Asteraceae, meaning “asters” or “stars”), and pollinators love sunflowers.   That’s because sunflowers , known also as “composites,” have apparent blossoms that are actually made up of multiple flowers, “disk flowers” in the center and “ray flowers” (that look like petals) around the edge.   Thus, when insects expend the energy to visit a single sunflower, they are rewarded with the energy-rich pollen and nectar of many flowers.  Thus, sunflowers in general are good attractors. 

But Gaillardia is a star among stars.   I have watched bees and butterflies sail right past other sunflower species to get to Gaillardia.   A wildflower’s larger self is a “self”—unique to that species.   Perennial sunflowers may invest more energy in roots or stems than in pollen or nectar, and many of their interactions may be microbial, belowground, not easily visible to humans. But as an annual wildflower dependent on seed production for self-perpetuation, Gaillardia invests mightily in flowers.  Possibly for this or for other reasons, they are heavy-hitters when it comes to attracting pollinators and other creatures that are visible to and appreciated by humans. 

I would also like to add a caveat about my catalogue of creatures in Gaillardia World.   It is by no means comprehensive.   The observations recorded at prairiecommunity.blogspot.com came daily, but from only a few hours in the late afternoon.   Who might I have added to the list if I could have observed Gaillardia early in the morning or during the night?    Perhaps I could have seen the night-flying Wavy-Lined Emerald Moths, whose progeny, the Camouflaged Loopers, proved so delightful during the day. 

 Citations for "At Home on the Land?"

Epigraphs

Frost, Robert.  “The Gift Outright.”  This line has been interpreted in wildly various ways, including that it refers to settlers’ life in the colonies before the formation of the United States.   The ecological interpretation is the one that resonates most profoundly with me.

Leopold, Aldo.  “Natural History.” A Sand County Almanac, with Essays on Conservation from Round River.   New York: Ballantine 1949;1953; 1966. p. 203.

Tallamy, Douglas W.   Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard. Portland: Timber Press, 2019.  p. 62.

Kimmerer, Robin Wall.  Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.  Milkweed Editions, 2013.  pp. 346-347.

Carver, George Washington.  Qtd. by Clark, Glen.  The Man Who Talks with the Flowers: The Intimate Life Story of Dr. George Washington Carver.  Macalester Park, 1976.  pp. 44-45.

 

“at two with nature” Woody Allen, quoted in https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/18204-i-am-at-two-with-nature and https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/24/magazine/woody-and-mia-a-new-york-story.html

 “ecological wasteland” Tallamy, Douglas W.   Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard. Portland: Timber Press, 2019.  p. 62.

"the land-community"  Leopold, Aldo.  “The Land Ethic, 'Community Concept'.” A Sand County Almanac, with Essays on Conservation from Round River.   New York: Ballantine 1949;1953; 1966.  pp. 239-241.

 “Knowing that you love the earth….” Kimmerer, Robin Wall.  Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.  Milkweed Editions, 2013.  p. 125.

 “As soon as you begin to read the great and loving God”  Carver, George Washington.  George Washington Carver: In His Own Words.  Ed. Gary R. Kremer.  Columbia: U of Mo P, 2017. p. 158.

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”  Shakespeare, William.  A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Act 3, Scene 2. 

“A little flower….”  Carver, George Washington.  Qtd. by Clark, Glen.  The Man Who Talks with the Flowers: The Intimate Life Story of Dr. George Washington Carver.  Macalester Park, 1976.  p. 45. 

“Land is a fountain of energy” Leopold, Aldo.  “The Land Ethic.” A Sand County Almanac, with Essays on Conservation from Round River.   New York: Ballantine 1949;1953; 1966. p.253.

“[The Potawatomi] understood a world of being”   pp. 47, 55.

“Begin now to study the little things in your own dooryard” Carver, George Washington.  George Washington Carver: In His Own Words.  Ed. Gary R. Kremer.  Columbia: U of Mo P, 2017. p. 163. 

“The land is the real teacher.” Kimmerer, Robin Wall.  Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.  Milkweed Editions, 2013. p. 222.

Appendix

“Greater Self”  Douglas Chadwick uses this terms to describe individual creatures’ interconnections with others.  Chadwick, Douglass.  Four Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All.  Patagonia Works: 2021. pp. 80-81.

 

Gaillardia World: Citations for "At Home on the Land? Welcome to Gaillardia World

 

Epigraphs

Frost, Robert.  “The Gift Outright.”  This line has been interpreted in wildly various ways, including that it refers to settlers’ life in the colonies before the formation of the United States.   The ecological interpretation is the one that resonates most profoundly with me.

Leopold, Aldo.  “Natural History.” A Sand County Almanac, with Essays on Conservation from Round River.   New York: Ballantine 1949;1953; 1966. p. 203.

Tallamy, Douglas W.   Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard. Portland: Timber Press, 2019.  p. 62.

Kimmerer, Robin Wall.  Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.  Milkweed Editions, 2013.  pp. 346-347.

Carver, George Washington.  Qtd. by Clark, Glen.  The Man Who Talks with the Flowers: The Intimate Life Story of Dr. George Washington Carver.  Macalester Park, 1976.  pp. 44-45.

 

“at two with nature” Woody Allen, quoted in https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/18204-i-am-at-two-with-nature and https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/24/magazine/woody-and-mia-a-new-york-story.html

 

“You might start by planting a little garden…” Chadwick, Douglass.  Four Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All.  Patagonia Works: 2021.  P. 111.

“Homegrown National Park.”  Tallamy, Douglas W.   Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard. Portland: Timber Press, 2019.  pp. 61-76.

“ecological wasteland” Tallamy, Douglas W.   Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard. Portland: Timber Press, 2019.  p. 62.

 

 

“Knowing that you love the earth….” Kimmerer, Robin Wall.  Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.  Milkweed Editions, 2013.  p. 125.

 “As soon as you begin to read the great and loving God”  Carver, George Washington.  George Washington Carver: In His Own Words.  Ed. Gary R. Kremer.  Columbia: U of Mo P, 2017. p. 158.

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”  Shakespeare, William.  A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Act 3, Scene 2. 

“A little flower….”  Carver, George Washington.  Qtd. by Clark, Glen.  The Man Who Talks with the Flowers: The Intimate Life Story of Dr. George Washington Carver.  Macalester Park, 1976.  p. 45. 

“Land is a fountain of energy” Leopold, Aldo.  “The Land Ethic.” A Sand County Almanac, with Essays on Conservation from Round River.   New York: Ballantine 1949;1953; 1966. p.253.

“[The Potawatomi] understood a world of being”   pp. 47, 55.

“To those who have as yet not learned the secret of true happiness” Carver, George Washington.  George Washington Carver: In His Own Words.  Ed. Gary R. Kremer.  Columbia: U of Mo P, 2017. p. 163. 

“The land is the real teacher.” Kimmerer, Robin Wall.  Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.  Milkweed Editions, 2013. p. 222.

Appendix

“Greater Self”  Douglas Chadwick uses this terms to describe individual creatures’ interconnections with others.  Chadwick, Douglass.  Four Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All.  Patagonia Works: 2021. pp. 80-81.