Life in the Campbell Park Pollinator Patch: Part II

 The previous post gave some background on this community garden in Chatham, and the pollinator patch, which got its start in 2017. Certainly as the diversity of (mostly) native tallgrass prairie species has increased, and the size of the pollinator patch has doubled, it seems there are more insects than ever visiting it. I am finding new species every year. I'm not sure where they come from as it is located in a very open, manicured, municipal park and there is not much in the way of natural habitat close by. So it is even more amazing that such diversity makes its way here.

Some of the invertebrate fauna is easier to photograph than others, of course. So I present here a wide selection of species that I have seen, some quite regularly and others on rare or even single, occasions. While a fair number of them are in the Hymenoptera group, which includes wasps, bees, and such, I have never been bothered by any that I've photographed, even though I am using a macro lens with extension tubes and a flash, and are often only a few centimetres away. By moving slowly, they apparently are not threatened at all, so are spending their time looking for nectar or other insects to mate with or feed on.

Click on any of the photos to see them in a larger size.

Bicolored Sweat Bee

As I have mentioned in other posts, moths are regular pollinators, but seldom get recognized as such. This one is the Carrot Seed Moth, a regular day-flying species.

Compost Fly

This next one, the Dark Paper Wasp, is frequently seen.

The Eastern Calligrapher, shown next, is a type of hover fly, or Syrphid.

One of the largest insects, especially of the Hymenopteran family, is the Eastern Cicada Killer Wasp. It is large, with a body length of about 5 cm (2") and looks quite impressive, but are hard to photograph as they seem to be easily scared off.

Eastern Carpenter Bee

Members of the Hymenopteran group, including bees and wasps, are certainly common, as the photos will show. This next one is not native, but well-established anyway. It is the European Paper Wasp.

The Feather-legged Fly, shown next, is quite a striking little creature. Its orange and black colouration stands out, and what is interesting are the 'feathery' things on its legs, hence its name.

Five-banded Thynnid Wasp

The Flower Longhorn Beetle, next, was not photographed right in the pollinator plot, but on a Climbing Prairie Rose growing nearby. I have seen them in the pollinator patch, however.

One of the larger, more impressive, and common, species seen amongst the flowers is this Great Golden Digger Wasp.

Two-spotted Bumble Bee

Hyaline Grass Bug

Brilliant Jumping Spider

I am always on the lookout for leafhoppers, which are abundant and come in many patterns and colours. They are all very small, so difficult to photograph. This next one is a leafhopper of the genus Agallia. I am not aware of any common name.

One of my all-time favourite leafhoppers is this next one, the Red-banded Leafhopper.

Long-legged Fly

A Longhorn Bee species

This next one is the Louisiana Dark-painted Bee. It is considered Imperiled in Canada, and on iNaturalist there are only 4 other locations in Canada where it has been recorded, all in extreme southwestern Ontario.

Next is the Lunate Longhorn Cuckoo, also quite rare with only 5 other locations recorded for Canada on iNaturalist. All are in southern Ontario.

Related to the Eastern Calligrapher, shown above, is this Margined Calligrapher, another hover fly.

Margined Leatherwing beetles are fairly common, and it looks like there may be more on the way!

Dragonflies are not common, but they do show up from time to time. This is a type of Meadowhawk, perhaps a Ruby-faced Meadowhawk. There are several very similar looking ones.

One-spotted Stinkbug

Some species just don't have a common name that is readily recognized. This plant bug just goes by its scientific name: Ilnacora stalii.

This is the Pruinose Squash Bee, inside the flower of a squash.

Red Milkweed Beetle

Small Milkweed Bug

This Soldier Fly, shown next, was a first for me a few weeks ago.

Similar in size to the Great Golden Digger Wasp is this Great Black Digger Wasp.

Spined Assasin Bug

A native, very small Lady Bird Beetle is this Spurleg Lady Beetle.

The fly is attractive, but the name, Sunflower Maggot Fly, isn't.

Swamp Milkweed Beetle

Twice-stabbed Stink Bug

Very common, especially on the Mountain-mint, is this Wedge-shaped Beetle.

The Weevil Wasp, next, presumably feeds on some of the various weevils that can occasionally be found here.

A very small bug, only about 5 mm in length, is this last one, the White-margined Burrower Bug.

That's it for this post, but there are many more bugs, beetles and other critters that might show up in a future post!

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Three 'hids': Orchids, Syrphids and Aphids

Last week I had the occasion to show Ontario Parks staff the Nodding Pogonia (Triphora trianthophora) at Rondeau Provincial Park. Given the fairly recent change in Ontario Parks (OP) staff, none of them had ever seen the orchid. And given the orchid's official Endangered status, it was important for OP staff to see it first hand, and have a greater appreciation for the challenges in understanding and ultimately managing for this orchid. Many readers will know that it is a favourite species of mine. I have been observing the species annually for almost 45 years, including having study plots set up in one of the main areas for over 30 years.

This is what we hoped to see, although it is a little late in the season for it to be in its prime.

 We did see a few plants that had drooping flowers, indicating they were in bloom a day or two earlier. But since each flower only lasts for a single day, and all the ones that are ready to open up do so on the same day, the chances of seeing them in flower is limited. We did see plants that had bloomed earlier in the season progressing nicely and forming seed capsules so that is encouraging. A couple of years ago it was so dry that the few flowers that may have opened (and there was no concrete evidence that any did) did not produce any seed capsules at all, which is not good for a species that is endangered and with its entire known Canadian population limited to Rondeau!

Developing seed capsule

The survey of 2017 resulted in only 51 plants being counted, although there is at least one other location in the park which likely had a few individuals. However that location is even more remote, and seldom looked at.

While we were at the Triphora site, we came across some great examples of the Beech Blight Aphid, a.k.a. Boogie Woogie Aphid.

The latter name is due to its action when a branch is bumped or it otherwise feels threatened. They all make themselves a little bigger with their rear end stuck higher, waving a thread-like feature of their anatomy. Supposedly this collective behaviour might scare away any birds looking for a meal along the branches.

After leaving the Triphora site, I took the OP staff to the site of another orchid. It is Autumn Coralroot (Corallorhiza odontorhiza). It is tiny as well, although not endangered. This first photo shows what it might look like from a metre or so away.

 Obviously it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, but when you get down on hands and knees and look closely, it is attractive. These next two photos show some relatively open flowers. This species is also known to self-pollinate, and sometimes the flowers don't open at all.

 Once pollinated, the flowers and developing seed capsules droop even more, before eventually becoming upright. The capsules will split open in several spots, allowing the extremely light seeds to be transported by even gentle breezes to a location potentially suitable for them.

I also took a bit of time on a recent visit to check out some of the goldenrod, where late season pollinating insects abound. There were the usual wasps and flies. On this occasion I was checking out the Syrphid flies, also known as hover flies or flower flies. The black and yellow patterns are attractive, and help identify them to species. Due to the great number of Syrphids, I posted some of the images on BugGuide, an on-line database designed for people across North America to post images and have them identified. In spite of some of the varied reference books I have at home, the number of insects one will come across is huge, and this on-line database is immensely useful. Here are three Syrphids species that I photographed, although when I initially photographed them, I thought there might have been more than three species. I was not aware of the different patterns between males and females of the species.

White-banded Flower Fly (Eristalis dimidiata) female

Erstaliis dimidiata male

Transverse Flower Fly (Eristalis transversa) female

Eristalis transversa male

Helophilus sp