Walker Nature Center
BRANCHING OUT
A LOOK INSIDE
• Calendar 4 • Fantastic Foxes 6 • Making your yard less friendly to ticks 7
Nature Notes Nature's Pest Control is the Best Control JUNE By Pam Findley • • • • •
Tiger swallowtail, Viceroy and wood nymph butterflies are seen. Mountain Laurel, Elderberry and viburnum shrubs are in bloom. Orioles are nesting. Blue False Indigo, Ox-eye Daisy and Orange Hawkweed are in bloom. June 20 -- Summer Solstice-Longest Day, Summer begins.
JULY • • • • •
Beebalm, Eastern Red Columbine and Black Cohosh are in bloom. Fireflies, mantids and katydids are common. Wild raspberries ripen. Look for Green Frogs at the pond. July 28-29 -- Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower peaks.
AUGUST • • • • •
Eastern Box Turtle young hatch. Viburnums have purple berries. Annual cicadas produce loud sounds. Cardinal Flower and asters bloom. August 12 and 13 – Perseid Meteor Shower peaks.
By Susan Sims
Summer arrives with a rainbow of flowers. Butterflies flit from blossom to blossom. A gardener stops to admire a Black-eyed Susan or perhaps check on the development of their small tomato patch and with horror they see an army of aphids covering tender stalks. Will the plant survive? Was all of this hard work for nothing? Wait, wait, do not reach for the pesticide. This is a delightful buffet for nature's predatory insects. Did you know one of the best ways to treat pests in a garden is to attract predatory insects? Yes, many are aware of ladybugs, but they are only one of many insects that can prove to be a gardener's friend. Chances are you may already have some of these insects in your yard or garden. Predatory insects offer many benefits beyond simply consuming pesky plant bullies. The prevalence of predatory insects means more available plants for pollinators, no need to use pesticides and saving a gardener's time. In a well-developed ecosystem, no matter how small, it can also improve the health of vegetables and herbs. Beneficial insects for pest control include robber flies, hoverflies, braconid wasps, tachinid flies and lacewings.
The Fab Five
Robber flies are voracious predators in the Asilidae family representing 1,000 species in North America. They often look like very large bees with a single set of wings, long abdomens and two large compound eyes. They will lay in wait and ambush their prey mid-air, buzzing them back to a leaf to inject them with neurotoxin and digestive enzymes using a long proboscis. They consume various flying insects including mosquitoes, beetles and occasionally other robber flies. Larval robber flies eat pest eggs, grubs and wireworms. They can deliver a painful bite if harassed so it’s best to leave the robber fly alone and watch its aerial acrobatics at a distance. Robber flies aren’t the only flies that support a thriving garden habitat. Syrphid flies - also known as hoverflies - sport a form of mimicry that makes them look more like a wasp or hornet which they use to their advantage to avoid other predators and lay eggs which hatch some very hungry larvae. Hoverfly larvae can reduce a population of aphids by 70% or more. Aphids feed on the sap of plants and can cause leaf loss, discoloration, increase the likelihood of fungal infections, and transmit viruses to plants. Hoverflies are also generalist pollinators, consuming nectar from a wide variety of plants further enriching the garden. Another fly family is also quite adept at pest patrol - tachinids.
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