Sweat Bee on Prickly Pear Cactus

A native North American solitary bee foraging on eastern prickly pear cactus. Often called the "forgotten pollinators" native bees and other native pollinating insects receive little media and scientific attention compared to the non-native honey bee. The prickly pear cactus is an endangered species in Ontario. Make sure to purchase native plants for your garden from reliable, locally sourced native plant nurseries, and never collect plants from the wild (bee: Apoidea: Halictidae: "Agapostemon texanus"; plant: Cactaceae: "Opuntia humifusa", Species at Risk in Ontario).

Phyciodes on Nodding Onion

The pearl crescent or the northern crescent butterfly on nodding onion (butterfly: Nymphalidae: "Phyciodes" sp.; plant: Amaryllidaceae, "Allium cernnum").

Great Golden Digger Wasp on Virginia Mountain Mint

The great golden digger is a parasitoid sphecid wasp specializing on Orthoptera. Adults are pollinators. Shown feeding on the floral resources of Virginia mountain mint (wasp: Apoidea: Sphecidae: "Sphex ichneumoneus"; plant: Lamiaceae: "Pycnanthemum virginianum").

Amplexus

Amplexus in gray tree frog, "Hyla versicolor" in late June in our biodiversity garden in Ontario. The male is on top. They remained in this mating position for the better part of the morning. The night before, we photo-documented five males calling in the area. Amphibians are in decline worldwide. It is heartening to know that our native tree frog is doing well, at least in our little neck of the woods. By planting native plants, we ensure a large insect population which provides ample food to sustain frogs.

Native Plants Feed Birds I

A native North American goldfinch on its native food plant. Goldfinches love cup plant seeds, and we often have flocks of 10-12 feeding in our biodiversity garden in late summer.

Silver Spotted Skipper on Virginia Mountain Mint

Canada's largest skipper, the silver spotted skipper, nectaring on Virginia mountain mint (butterfly: Hesperiidae: "Epargyreus clarus"; plant: Lamiaceae: "Pycnanthemum virginianum").

Butterfly Milkweed with Honey Bee

The fresh green leaves of milkweeds support the caterpillar of the monarch butterfly and other milkweed specialists. The flowers support insect pollinators of all sorts including the non-native honey bee shown here (plant: Apocynaceae: "Asclepias tuberosa"; bee: Apidae: "Apis mellifera").

Pollinating Fly on a Native Rose

Many fly species (order Diptera) visit flowers for food. When they move around from flower to flower gathering food they unknowingly transfer pollen from one flower to another. If a pollen grain lands on a receptive stigma (female flower part), pollination occurs. Fly on nine bark in spring (Insect: order Diptera; plant: Rosaceae: "Physocarpus opulifolius").

Monarch Butterfly

A monarch butterfly nectaring on the tiny flowers of cup plant in summertime. Adult monarchs may take nectar from flowers of native and non-native species, but the caterpillars can eat only the leaves of native milkweed plants (butterfly: Nymphalidae: "Danaus plexippus"; plant: Asteraceae, "Silphium perfoliatum").

Tiger Swallowtail on Milkweed with Moonseed Leaf

A tiger swallowtail drinks nectar from common milkweed flowers using its straw-like mouthpart called a proboscis. Common milkweed is an essential biodiversity garden plant for two reasons: the leaves provide food for numerous specialist insects including caterpillars of monarch butterflies, and the flowers are an important source of food for pollinators. The curved stem and leaf on far right belongs to Canada moonseed (butterfly: Papilionidae: "Papilio canadensis"; plants: Apocynaceae: "Asclepias syriaca"; Menispermaceae: "Menispermum canadense").

Great Crested Flycatcher on Red Oak

Halictus on Pinnate Prairie Coneflower

A solitary sweat bee foraging on the disc florets of native pinnate prairie coneflower (bee: Apoidea: Halictidae: "Halictus" sp.; plant: Asteraceae: "Ratibida pinnata").

Vanessa on Eupatorium

This butterfly is nectaring on a native plant commonly called tall boneset or tall thoroughwort. This plant is a member of the daisy family, but the small flowers are not typical-looking daisies. For plant nerds, the flowers are lacking ray florets. Abundant blooms are an important food source for pollinators in late summer and the flowers have an amazing fragrance! Butterfly: "Vanessa" sp., family Nymphalidae; plant "Eupatorium altissimum", family Asteraceae.

Sweat Bee on Nodding Onion

A tiny native sweat bee gathering pollen on the rare plant nodding onion (bee: Apoidea: Halictidae; plant: Amaryllidaceae: "Allium cernuum").

Beetles on Milkweed in June

A pair of red milkweed beetles on common milkweed in mid-June, when the flower buds are young and the leaves are soft (beetle: "Tetraopes tetrophthalmus", family Cerambycidae; plant: "Asclepias syriaca", family Apocynaceae).

Papilio on Pagoda Dogwood

The giant swallowtail is North America's largest butterfly. Pictured in spring, it is nectaring on the tiny flowers of native pagoda dogwood, (butterfly: "Papilio cresphontes", family Papilionidae; plant: "Cornus alternifolia", family Cornaceae).

Sweat Bee on Fleabane

A small sweat bee, probably a male due to the blueish color, on daisy fleabane (bee: Apoidea: Halictidae: "Augochlora pura"; plant: Asteraceae: "Erigeron annuus").

Bombus on Flowering Raspberry

A native bumble bee gathering food from flowering raspberry, one of several gorgeous native roses (bee: Apoidea: Apidae: "Bombus" sp.; plant: Rosaceae: "Rubus odoratus").

Bombus on Culver's Root

A native bumble bee gathering food from culver's root (bee: Apoidea: Apidae: "Bombus" sp.; plant: Plantaginaceae: "Veronicastrum virginicum").

Tiger Swallowtail on Cup Plant

The tiger swallowtail drinking nectar from the tiny flowers of a native daisy (butterfly: Papilionidae: "Papilio canadensis"; plant: Asteraceae "Silphium perfoliatum").

Sweat Bee on Green-headed Coneflower

Green iridescent solitary sweat bee foraging on the outer disc florets of native green-headed coneflower (bee: Apoidea: Halictidae: "Augochlora pura"; plant: Asteraceae: "Rudbeckia laciniata").

Milkweed with Honey Bee

"Asclepias syriaca" commonly called milkweed is the larval food plant of the monarch butterfly, and an important pollinator plant. Pictured, the non-native honey bee gathering pollen and nectar from the flowers. Family Apocynaceae (dogbane or milkweed family).

Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed

Monarch butterflies will drink nectar from a variety of plant species, but their caterpillars can only feed on native plants. Monarchs and milkweeds coevolved, and today, monarchs are dependent on these native hostplants. Pictured is a monarch flitting about common milkweed as it layed eggs on the leaves (monarch butterfly: "Danaus plexippus", family Nymphalidae; plant: common milkweed, "Asclepias syriaca", family Apocynaceae).

Native Plants Feed Birds II

A native plant garden feeds birds in more ways than one. American Goldfinches flock to a patch of a native daisy called cup plant. Pictured eating the seeds (plant: "Silphium perfoliatum": Asteraceae).

Native Halictid Bee on Echinacea

A native bee foraging for pollen and nectar on "Echinacea pallida" (bee: “Agapostemon texanus", male, family Halictidae; plant: Asteraceae).

Lycaenid Butterfly on Milkweed

A butterfly feeding on nectar of common milkweed flowers, "Asclepias syriaca".

Chipmunk on Nannyberry

The eastern chipmunk is a ground squirrel that often climbs small trees and shrubs in our biodiversity garden. Here the chipmunk is on nannyberry, with cheek pouches full of tasty fruits.

Hoptree Feeds Pollinators in Spring

When little else is flowering in early-mid spring in Southern Ontario, native hoptree blooms with inconspicuous tiny green flowers. You'll find it swarming with pollinators however! The tongue of this bumble bee is extended and collecting nectar. Butterflies love it too. The leaves of hoptree are one of only two food sources for the caterpillars of the giant swallowtail butterfly.

Bumble Bee on Blue Flag

Bumble bees foraging on blue flag iris are a common sight in our biodiversity garden (plant: blue flag: "Iris versicolor", Iridaceae).

Flies Mating on Fleabane

Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly

Black Squirrel

High in the canopy of an old black walnut, a black squirrel is eating a pendulous catkin -- the male flowers of the tree (tree: "Juglans nigra", squirrel: melanistic eastern grey, "Sciurus carolinensis").

Robber Fly Consuming a Japanese Beetle

This is one of my favourite insects in our biodiversity garden. First, it is a bumble bee mimic. Second, it is a predatory fly, and it's eating a Japanese beetle, a notorious introduced plant pest that feeds on an unusually wide variety of plants -- and always your favourite one! (robber fly: "Laphria" sp., family Asilidae; beetle: "Popillia japonica", family Scarabaeidae").

Giant Swallowtail Cat on Hoptree Leaf

Caterpillars themselves are not pollinators, but they grow up to be pollinators. Most cats* feed on fresh green leaves, and many are highly specialized on native plants. If you want beautiful moths and butterflies flying around your garden, you'll need to plant the food plants of the caterpillars, and those are largely native species. Caterpillars are fascinating animals in their own right, and a major food source for birds. Native plants attract the insects, insects attract the birds. This is what biodiversity gardening is all about. The image shows the defensive display of a papilionid caterpillar. All papilionid cats have an osmeterium (forked red structure), or an everscible gland behind the head that emits a foul odor, warding off potential predators (Cat: Papilionidae: "Papilio cresphontes"; plant: Rutaceae: hop tree, "Ptelea trifoliata"). *those of us that love caterpillars refer to them as "cats" for short!

Red Milkweed Beetles Mating

Leaf Beetles on Butterfly Milkweed

The milkweed leaf beetle is another insect species dependent on milkweeds for survival (a member of the family Chrysomelidae). In our biodiversity garden they are more commonly found on butterfly milkweed (beetle, "Labidomera clivicollis". plant "Asclepias tuberosa").

Caterpillar on Carolina Rose

I thought I was taking a picture of the bumble bee foraging on Carolina rose. In the end I also got a lovely shot of a caterpillar that had been eating this gorgeous native rose. Look for the evidence near the caterpillar: chewed petal margins, and a nice piece of pink frass!

Ontario's Only Hummer

Female ruby-throated hummingbird

Canada's Largest Butterfly

The giant swallowtail, nectaring on the tiny flowers of nanny berry.

Parasitoid Wasp on Heliopsis

The long needle-like extension on the tip of the abdomen is the ovipositor, or egg-laying structure of this female parasitoid wasp. I watched her thrust the ovipositor down into the centre of the native daisy multiple times. This type of behaviour suggests she was laying eggs inside a host, probably some type of arthropod living concealed inside the disc florets. It serves as a reminder that in gardens and habitats with a diversity of native plants, tri-trophic interactions are more likely to occur because most native insects depend on native plants for survival (plant is native oxeye sunflower: "Heliopsis helianthoides", family Asteraceae).

Native Solitary Bee on Opuntia

A native North American sweat bee gathering food (pollen) from the flower of a native prickly pear cactus (Opuntia sp.)