Marietta Daisies Garden Club

5 days ago

12 min read

Meet Your Pollinators

Who are the pollinators?

PART 1

When we hear the word pollinator, most of us immediately picture a honeybee or perhaps a butterfly floating through the garden. But the world of pollinators is much bigger and far more interesting than many of us realize.

Pollination is essential to the reproduction of flowering plants. As pollen is carried from one flower to another, plants are able to produce seeds and, in many cases, the fruits and vegetables we enjoy. Bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, wasps, hummingbirds, and other animals all contribute to this process.

Pollinators are just as important beyond our gardens and farms. They help native

wildflowers, shrubs, and trees reproduce, providing the seeds and fruits that feed countless birds and other wildlife. Many of the insects we encounter around flowers also perform other valuable jobs controlling garden and agricultural pests, recycling organic material, and contributing to the healthy ecosystems on which plants depend.

Yet some of these helpful creatures don't always receive a warm welcome. Bees and wasps may make us nervous. Flies and beetles are often shooed away. Moths can go almost unnoticed because much of their work happens after dark. Even bats, while not pollinators here in Georgia, play an important supporting role by helping control nighttime insect populations.

That's why it is worth getting to know the creatures sharing our gardens.

Pollinators face growing pressures from habitat loss, pesticides and other contaminants, disease, invasive species, and changing environmental conditions. Researchers, including scientists at the University of Georgia, continue to study pollinator populations and the ways homeowners, gardeners, farmers, and communities can help.

The good news is that our own gardens can be part of the solution. Planting native flowers, providing food and water throughout the seasons, preserving nesting and overwintering habitat, reducing unnecessary pesticide use, and even allowing a few areas to remain a little wild can make a meaningful difference.

And it begins with knowing who's out there.

So take a closer look at that flower. The visitor you find may surprise you.

Meet Your Pollinators...

Bees

Bees may be small, but their impact on Georgia’s gardens, farms, forests, and food supply is enormous. Throughout the Southeastern Mixed Forest, bees are among our most important pollinators, moving pollen from flower to flower and making possible the fruits, vegetables, seeds, and native plants that both people and wildlife depend upon.

Georgia is home to more than 500 species of native bees, in addition to the managed honeybees commonly seen in gardens and agricultural fields. Together, these hardworking pollinators contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to Georgia agriculture each year. Insect pollination is estimated to support more than $600 million of Georgia’s agricultural economy annually.

Peaches, strawberries, watermelon, blueberries, apples, and many other crops benefit from bee pollination. And while honeybees are certainly important, they are only part of the story.

Honeybees Aren’t Actually Native to Georgia

Most of us are familiar with the honeybee (Apis mellifera), living in large colonies with a queen and thousands of workers. Honeybees have been agricultural pollination workhorses in the United States for generations, but they are not native to North America. European settlers brought them here nearly 400 years ago.

Long before honeybees arrived, however, thousands of species of native bees were already pollinating North American plants.

There are nearly 4,000 species of native bees in the United States, and Georgia alone is home to more than 500 of them. Unlike honeybees, many native bees do not live in hives. Some form small colonies, while many others live solitary lives, building individual nests underground, inside hollow plant stems, or in dead wood.

Native bees can also be remarkably efficient pollinators. For certain regional crops, including blueberries and apples, wild native bees and bumblebees can be even more effective pollinators than honeybees.

Meet Some of Georgia’s Native Bees

Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) live in relatively small colonies, often nesting underground. They are active across a long growing season and visit a tremendous variety of flowers. Bumblebees are particularly valuable because they can perform buzz pollination vibrating flowers to release pollen. This makes them especially effective pollinators of plants such as tomatoes and blueberries.
Sweat bees (family Halictidae) are often much smaller and may be metallic green, blue, bronze, or dark colored. Most nest in the ground. Depending on the species, they may live alone or together in loosely organized colonies.
Carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.) are large bees that are sometimes mistaken for bumblebees. Instead of nesting underground, females excavate tunnels in wood where they raise their young.
Leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.) get their name from their fascinating nest-building behavior. Females cut nearly perfect pieces from leaves and use them to construct individual nest chambers, often inside existing holes in wood or hollow stems.
Mason bees (Osmia spp.) also use existing cavities in stems and dead wood. Instead of leaves, they commonly use mud to divide their nests into individual chambers.
Digger and plasterer bees (Colletes spp.) are solitary ground-nesting bees. Females excavate nests in the soil and line their brood cells with a waterproof, cellophane-like secretion.
Cactus bees (Diadasia spp.) are another group of solitary ground nesters. Many species specialize in collecting pollen from particular groups of plants.

Different Bees, Different Flowers

Not every bee is built the same way.

Bees have tongues of different lengths, body sizes, behaviors, and methods of collecting pollen. These differences help determine which flowers they can successfully visit and pollinate. A flower that works perfectly for one bee species may be difficult for another to access.

This diversity is one reason having many different species of bees is so important. A healthy pollinator community provides a variety of specialists and generalists capable of pollinating different plants throughout the growing season.

And bees need more than flowers.

They need food, water, shelter, and places to raise their young.

A Bee-Friendly Garden Is More Than a Flower Garden

One of the best ways gardeners and landowners can help native bees is by providing habitat throughout the year.

Planting a diversity of native plants that bloom continuously from early spring through fall provides dependable sources of nectar and pollen. Early-blooming plants are particularly important for bees emerging from winter, while late-season flowers help bees prepare for colder months.

But resisting the urge to make every corner of the landscape perfectly tidy can be just as valuable.

Many native bees nest underground, so leaving some areas of bare, undisturbed soil can provide important nesting habitat. Other bees spend the winter inside hollow stems, dead wood, fallen branches, or standing vegetation.

Where it is safe, consider leaving dead trees or snags, hollow stems, and some standing vegetation through the winter. Rather than cutting everything down in fall, wait until spring before cleaning up portions of the garden.

On larger properties and farms, maintaining native vegetation along field edges, streams, low-production areas, hedgerows, and windbreaks can create valuable pollinator corridors. These areas provide food and shelter even when agricultural crops are not blooming.

Pollinators Need Our Help

Pollinator populations face a combination of pressures, including habitat loss and fragmentation, disease, parasites, pesticides and other contaminants, invasive species, and changing environmental conditions.

The encouraging news is that ordinary gardens and landscapes can become part of the solution.

How You Can Help the Bees

Plant native flowers and choose a variety that provides blooms from spring through fall.
Leave some bare ground. Many of our native bees build their nests underground.
Save hollow stems and dead wood where practical. They can provide nesting and overwintering sites.
Wait until spring to clean up parts of the garden. Pollinators may be spending the winter inside last year's stems and vegetation.
Provide a clean, shallow water source with stones or other safe landing places.
Reduce pesticide use, especially when plants are flowering and pollinators are actively foraging.
Create hedgerows and natural borders with native flowering shrubs, grasses, and perennials.
Preserve natural areas. Even a small undisturbed corner of a garden can provide valuable habitat.

Become a Citizen Scientist

You can do more than simply provide habitat, you can help scientists understand Georgia's pollinators.

The Great Southeast Pollinator Census, spearheaded by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, invites everyday gardeners, families, schools, garden clubs, and community groups to observe flowers and count the insects that visit them.

Participants learn to recognize different groups of pollinators while contributing valuable information about pollinator populations across the Southeast. It's a wonderful reminder that meaningful scientific research can happen right in our own backyards.

A Little Wild Can Be a Wonderful Thing

Perhaps one of the easiest lessons bees can teach gardeners is that a healthy garden doesn't always need to look perfectly manicured.

That hollow stem you were about to cut down may contain a developing mason bee. The little patch of bare soil beneath your flowers might be the entrance to a native bee's nest. A fallen branch could become next year's nursery for a leafcutter bee.

By planting thoughtfully and occasionally doing a little less we can give Georgia's remarkable diversity of bees the food, shelter, and nesting places they need.

And in return, these tiny neighbors will continue doing the enormous job they have been doing for thousands of years: keeping our gardens blooming, our farms productive,

and our natural landscapes alive.

Butterflies

Butterflies: Beautiful and Beneficial Pollinators

Georgia is home to more than 170 species of butterflies, from the Coastal Plain to the Piedmont and north Georgia mountains. Best known for their beauty, butterflies also contribute to healthy ecosystems by carrying pollen from flower to flower as they feed on nectar. Just as importantly, they are part of the food web and are indicators of diverse, healthy habitats.

Gardeners have long welcomed butterflies into their landscapes and fortunately, many of the same colorful flowers that make a garden beautiful also provide valuable food for butterflies.

Creating a Butterfly-Friendly Garden

Butterflies are sun-loving insects. Plant nectar-rich flowers in areas that receive plenty of sunshine and, when possible, provide some protection from strong winds. Flat stones or other sunny open areas give butterflies places to bask and warm their wings before taking flight.

Butterflies also need water and minerals, but they don't necessarily look for a birdbath. Many species practice a behavior called “puddling,” gathering on damp soil or mud to take in water, salts, and minerals. A small patch of moist soil or sand can become an important butterfly resource.

And don't make the garden too tidy! Some butterflies will feed on overripe or rotting fruit, tree sap, and other natural materials we might normally be tempted to clean away.

Don't Forget the Caterpillars

A true butterfly garden provides more than flowers for adult butterflies. It also provides host plants for their caterpillars.

Female butterflies can be very particular about where they lay their eggs because their caterpillars may eat only one plant or a small group of related plants. That means supporting butterflies sometimes requires accepting a few chewed leaves.

Think of those nibbled leaves not as garden damage, but as evidence that your garden is doing its job.

Planting both nectar plants for adults and host plants for caterpillars helps butterflies complete their entire life cycle in your landscape.

Butterflies You May Meet in Georgia

Butterflies belong to the insect order Lepidoptera. Georgia's gardens, meadows, roadsides, and woodland edges support a wonderful variety, including Goatweed Leafwings, Question Marks, Viceroys, Spicebush Swallowtails, Carolina Satyrs, Spring Azures, and many others.

A few particularly recognizable Georgia visitors include:

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Georgia's state butterfly. This spectacular large yellow-and-black swallowtail can frequently be seen visiting flowering trees, shrubs, and wildflowers.
Gulf Fritillary A brilliant orange butterfly closely associated with native and cultivated passionflower vines, which serve as host plants for its caterpillars.
Cloudless Sulphur A bright yellow butterfly often seen rapidly crossing gardens, fields, and roadsides. Populations move seasonally throughout the Southeast.
Common Buckeye Easily recognized by the dramatic eyespots on its wings, this butterfly favors sunny, open habitats and gardens.

Plant a Butterfly Buffet

A diverse garden is one of the best ways to support butterflies. Include plants that flower at different times so nectar is available from spring through fall.

Native favorites such as purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, bee balm, Joe-Pye weed, asters, goldenrods, and native milkweeds can provide valuable nectar.

Host plants are equally important. Passionflower supports Gulf Fritillaries, pawpaw supports Zebra Swallowtails, and native milkweeds support Monarch caterpillars.

Trees and shrubs matter, too. A successful butterfly habitat can include layers of flowering trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses, and ground-level plants rather than relying on flowers alone.

Georgia: A Highway for Monarchs

One of Georgia's most remarkable butterfly stories happens twice each year when Monarch butterflies travel through the state during their extraordinary migration.

In fall, generally from late August through October, Monarchs move south through Georgia on their journey toward overwintering grounds in central Mexico. Some Monarchs may ultimately travel thousands of miles.

Georgia becomes an important refueling stop along the way.

Migrating Monarchs need tremendous amounts of energy, so late-blooming native nectar plants are especially valuable during fall migration. Goldenrods, asters, and other autumn flowers can provide the fuel these travelers need to continue south.

In spring, Monarchs begin moving north again. Georgia generally sees returning butterflies during April and May as successive generations continue the northward journey and females search for milkweed on which to lay their eggs.

Georgia's varied landscapes from the Coastal Plain and sandhills through the Piedmont and into the mountain foothills can provide a chain of nectar and habitat resources along this migration route.

Helping Georgia's Butterflies

You don't need acres of land to make a difference. Even a small garden can become a useful stop along a butterfly's journey.

Plant a variety of native nectar flowers from spring through fall. Include host plants for caterpillars. Leave a sunny place for basking and a little damp soil for puddling. Reduce pesticide use, and allow at least part of the garden to remain slightly wild.

You can also turn butterfly watching into citizen science. Programs such as the Great Southeast Pollinator Census allow Georgians to observe and count pollinators while contributing information that helps researchers better understand their populations.

Perhaps most importantly, remember that a butterfly garden isn't simply

a garden designed to attract beautiful adult butterflies.

It's a place where butterflies can eat, rest, reproduce, and complete their entire life cycle.

So when you discover a caterpillar munching away

at one of your carefully tended plants, resist the urge to reach for the spray.

You may have just discovered the next generation of butterflies growing in your garden.

Moths

Moths: Pollinators After Dark

When we think of pollinators, bees and butterflies usually get most of the attention. But as daylight fades and many daytime pollinators settle in for the night, another important group takes over: moths.

Georgia is home to an extraordinary variety of moths, and while many are active at night, some species fly and feed during the day. As they travel from flower to flower in search of nectar, moths carry pollen with them, helping native plants reproduce and adding another important shift to nature's round-the-clock pollination team.

Butterfly or Moth?

Moths and butterflies are close relatives and both belong to the insect order Lepidoptera, but there are a few clues that can help tell them apart.

One of the easiest is the antennae. Butterfly antennae generally end in a small rounded club or swelling. Moth antennae may be thin, threadlike, or beautifully feathered, but they generally do not have the clubbed tips characteristic of butterflies.

Butterflies are primarily active during the day, while many moths become active around dusk or after dark. Moths also tend to have stouter, fuzzier bodies, while butterflies often appear more slender and less hairy.

These are useful guidelines rather than absolute rules. Some moths fly during the day, and moths can be every bit as colorful and striking as butterflies.

The Night Shift Begins

Night-blooming flowers have developed some fascinating ways to attract pollinators when there isn't much light.

Instead of relying primarily on bright colors, many moth-pollinated flowers are white or pale colored, making them easier to see in moonlight. They may open during the late afternoon or evening and release strong, sweet fragrances that moths can detect as they search for nectar.

Plants such as evening primrose are wonderful examples of flowers adapted to nighttime visitors.

Moths can also visit many familiar daytime plants, including phlox, Joe-Pye weed, goldenrod, ironweed, and mountain mint.

Meet Some of Georgia's Pollinating Moths

Sphinx and Hawk Moths These large, powerful moths are among the most impressive pollinators in the garden. Their rapid wingbeats allow them to hover in front of flowers while extending long tongues into deep, tubular blooms. At first glance, some can easily be mistaken for hummingbirds.
Hummingbird Clearwing Moths These remarkable day-flying moths have partially transparent wings and hover from flower to flower much like tiny hummingbirds. They can often be spotted visiting nectar-rich garden flowers.
Owlet Moths Members of this large and diverse moth family are common nighttime visitors to flowers. Their abundance makes them an important part of nighttime ecosystems.
Eight-Spotted Forester Proof that moths aren't always brown or nocturnal, this handsome black, white, and orange moth is active during the day and visits flowers for nectar.

Plant a Garden for the Night Shift

A pollinator garden doesn't have to close when the sun goes down. Adding plants that appeal to moths can keep your garden buzzing and fluttering well into the evening.

Include pale or white flowers that are visible in low light and fragrant plants that release their scent during the evening. Evening primrose and other night-blooming plants are especially attractive to nocturnal visitors.

Native nectar-rich plants such as goldenrod, ironweed, mountain mint, phlox, and Joe-Pye weed can provide additional food for both moths and other pollinators.

And just as with butterflies, remember the caterpillars. Adult moths need nectar, but their young need host plants. Native trees, shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers provide food and shelter for an enormous variety of moth caterpillars.

Don't Turn Out the Welcome Mat with Too Much Light

One simple way to help moths has nothing to do with planting.

Reduce unnecessary outdoor lighting at night. Artificial light can attract and disorient nocturnal insects, interfering with their normal feeding, mating, and movement. Turning off lights when they aren't needed or using lighting that is directed downward can make your landscape friendlier to moths and other nighttime wildlife.

So the next time you walk through the garden after sunset,

take another look at those pale flowers glowing in the fading light.

The garden may seem quiet,

but the night shift of pollinators may just be getting started.