Another New Native Bee Discovery

Leafcutter Bee

I'm amazed at the number of new native bees we've seen this year in our yard. Many of the new ones are cleptoparasites on other bee species, otherwise known as Cuckoo Bees.

Read earlier posts here about Nomada Cuckoo Bees, and another post about a Sphecodes Sweat Bee that's also a Cuckoo Bee - both new sightings this year.

The latest new bee is a cleptoparasite of Leafcutter Bees (Megachile species). Leafcutter Bees are different from other native bee species - instead of collecting pollen on their leg combs, they collect pollen on hair patches on their abdomens.

Leafcutter bees nest in cavities or hollow stems. Females cut circular pieces of leaves to wrap brood cells. The cell's sides are made with oval pieces, and it is closed with a number of circular pieces. (Attracting Native Pollinators)

This week I photographed this new Cuckoo Bee (Coelioxys species) nectaring on Prairie Coreopsis and Butterfly Milkweed. I thought it could be a type of wasp at first, with its pointed abdomen.

These Coelioxys Cuckoo Bees are in the same family as Leafcutter Bees (Megachilidae). Like the other Cuckoo Bees I wrote about this spring, they don't have any pollen collecting capabilities. They visit flowers for nectar only.

"Protruding from the last segment are short spines used to break through the brood cell walls of their host species during egg laying".

"The female enters a nest while the host is foraging and hides her egg by laying it in the wall or behid the food masses of almost finished brood cells." (Attracting Native Pollinators)

Like other cleptoparasites, the larvae of the Cuckoo Bee hatch and kill the host bee larvae. They then eat the pollen supplied by the host bee.

It has been fascinating to observe the order of arrival of native bees in our landscape. Starting with common Bumble and Mining Bees, the next season Leafcutter, Digger, Carpenter and Sweat Bees, then this year Carder Bees and many types of cleptoparasitic Cuckoo Bees.

Northern Pearly Eye Butterfly Seeking Native Host Plants

Northern Pearly Eye ~ Enodia anthedon (Lethe anthedon)


It's always fun to look for woodland butterfly species. Many woodland butterflies are medium to dark brown in color making them difficult to spot in shady places.

I photographed this Northern Pearly Eye at a local park, fluttering around under large oak trees by a creek. This seems to be their preferred habitat as their host plants include both shade tolerant and wetland marginal grass species.

Adults commonly occur in the upper midwest in late June through August. The caterpillars are light green with "prominent pink to red horns on head and last abdominal segment". (Caterpillars of Eastern North America)

One specific native host plant is Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix or Hystrix patula). This grass is a wonderful, shade tolerant grass.

It just started to flower, the long floral spikes look like bottle brushes and are extremely showy. The wide grass blades are blue-green in color. Bottlebrush Grass reaches heights of around 40" in average soils, taller in richer soils.

Bottlebrush Grass is browsed by deer (and dogs) so it's best planted where there isn't too much deer pressure.

Native Plant of the Week: Tall Meadow Rue ~ Thalictrum dasycarpum

Tall Meadow Rue ~ Thalictrum dasycarpum


The Tall Meadow Rue is especially tall this year in our landscape with all the rainfall we've had - almost 6 feet in height. It typically reaches heights of 3 to 5 feet. A native perennial of medium to moist locations in full sun.

The flower clusters are very showy and branched. Individual plants are either have male or female flowers. The male flowers have showy dangling filaments with yellow anthers.

Tall Meadow Rue is very common in Minnesota, growing in low lying, moist, sunny areas next to wetlands or riparian habitats. Meadow Rue is rhizomatous so it often forms small clusters.

Small Sweat Bees are attracted to the staminate flowers and collect the pollen. The female flowers do not produce any nectar reward.

The Long Horned Beetle (Euderces picipes) seems to also feed on the pollen.

And another showing of the Sphegina fly, a fly who is attracted to white-flowering woodland natives. I've also seen this fly on Long Styled Sweet Cicely and Goat's Beard.

If you have a spot with moist, loamy or sandy soils in full sun, Tall Meadow Rue is an excellent candidate.

Tall Meadow Rue is native to central North America. See map below for range.

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
2011. North American Plant Atlas. Chapel Hill, N.C.

National Pollinator Week

My post today at Native Plants Wildlife Gardens is about pollinators.

Learn more about all the fascinating insect pollinators.

Read post

Native Plant of the Week: Beard Tongue ~ Penstemon digitalis

Beard Tongue ~ Penstemon digitalis


Beard Tongue is one of the showier native Penstemon with large white flowers arranged in a large cluster. An easy to grow native perennial, it is very adaptable to sandy soils as well and more loamy locations.

It can range from 18" to 48" in height. With an upright, sturdy habit that works well in both traditional perennial borders or naturalized plantings.

The basal leaves have short stalks, but the opposite leaves on the flower stem do not which gives Beard Tongue a nice form and highlights the large flower clusters.

The white flowers, sometimes with purple stripes, are 5 parted and tubular. The opening on this Penstemon is quite large so both bumble bees and tiny sweat bees can get their bodies inside. The flower has a flat base which makes a nice landing pad for pollinators.

Penstemon is derived from thee Greek word pente = 5, and stemon = stamen, meaning 5 stamens. Only 4 of the 5 stamens are fertile. (Wildflowers of Wisconsin)

When the flowers open, the anthers develop first. The anthers brush against the thorax or upper backs of bees as they visit the flowers. This action releases the pollen.

The style develops later and in doing so lowers its stigma downwards to prevent bees from entering the flower.

This tiny sweat bee is a regular visitor to the Beard Tongue flowers.

Bumble Bees also visit the flowers. Their larger bodies appear to get stuck in the flower tube as the use their long tongues to reach the nectar.

Leaf cutting bees also like the Beard Tongue flowers. They collect pollen on their abdomens.

Beard Tongue thrives in full or partial sun and mesic, loamy soils. It does reseed around the parent plant.

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
2011. North American Plant Atlas. Chapel Hill, N.C.

Beard Tongue is native to eastern North America. Some references indicate that it has possibly naturalized and not originally native to the upper midwest states such as Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Wild Ginger Seed Dispersal

Wild Ginger ~ Asarum canadense


The Wild Ginger was in full bloom in early April this year. The three red sepals form a triangular shaped flower with a white interior. The flowers are hidden below the leaves and often rest on the ground.

"The flower evolved to attract small pollinating flies that emerge from the ground early in the spring looking for a thawing carcass of an animal that did not survive the winter. By lying next to the ground flower is readily found by the emerging flies. The color of the flower is similar to that of decomposing flesh. Whether these flies pollinate the flower or not is in some dispute. Never the less they do enter the flower to escape the cold winds of early spring and to feast upon the flowers pollen. Some of the pollen attaches to their bodies and is taken with them when they visit the next flower."  (US Forest Service, Celebrating Wildflowers)

The method of seed dispersal  is known however. Along with other spring ephemerals such as Bloodroot, the seeds have a fleshy appendage attached to them called an elaiosome. The purpose of the protein rich elaiosome is to attract ants.

Ants love to consume the elaiosome, and discard the seed. They often take the seed back to their nests where the seed is discarded in their nest, ready to germinate the following season.

I thought I'd see how much ants liked the elaiosome. I collected a few seeds and placed them on the ground near an ant. The ant was immediately drawn to the seed and elaiosome.

It consumed the whole elaiosome from one seed, then carried the other one off probably to its nest.

What a great method of seed dispersal, get the seed as far away as possible from the parent plant, and, away from predators such as rodents.

Native Plant of the Week: Canada Anemone ~ Anemone canadensis

Canada Anemone ~ Anemone canadensis


This anemone is very common in the upper midwest and great lakes area. A native perennial often found on sandy, moist shorelines, as well as prairies in moister lower lying locations.

The large, over 1 inch wide, white flowers are comprised of five sepals, and arise on long stalks above the flower stalk leaves.

The basal foliage is similar in appearance to Wild Geranium. Older lower leaves are dark green and the newer leaves on the flower stalk contrast nicely as they are often lighter green in color.

Canada Anemone is rhizomatous, it spreads quickly if planted in rich, mesic to wet soils. In slightly drier, well drained soils it will not spread as rapidly. This is a great plant to utilize in shoreline plantings.

Many beetles love the flowers that provide copious amounts of pollen - tiny flower beetles will nestle under the stamens and feed. This long horned beetle is a regular visitor on our Canada Anemone.

This ant-like Long Horned Beetle (Euderces picipes) is a new sighting this year in the yard. Found on many of our woodland white flowering natives. Larvae of this beetle feed on decaying wood of oak, hickory and hackberry trees.

Also the first sighting of the season of Tumbling Flower Beetles. They are many of these beetles on the Canada Anemone flowers feeding on the pollen.

This red-eyed fly is the most common visitor, also feeding on the pollen.

Many native bees also love the Canada Anemone flowers. Small Carpenter Bees, Sweat Bees and Mining Bees are common visitors.

This spider seems to know the flowers are popular with bees and was waiting patiently for one to stop by.

Canada Anemone is native to eastern North America. See map below for range.

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
2011. North American Plant Atlas. Chapel Hill, N.C.

Wafer Ash Insect Visitors

Wafer Ash ~ Ptelea trifoliata

Our small Wafer Ash flowered this year and I was surprised at how fragrant the flowers were. And it's no surprise that the fragrance attracted many types of pollen and nectar seeking insects.

The tiny four or five parted flowers are arranged in loose cluster about two inches in width.

Read an earlier post about Wafer Ash.

Muscid flies were enjoying the flower offerings, who knew that they have a taste for sweet smelling things too?

And Syrpid flies also were frequent visitors.

Tiny Sweat Bees (Lasioglossum species) were busy collecting pollen and nectar. It was no surprise that two types of Cuckoo Bees, both cleptoparasites were nectaring on the flowers too.

Here a Nomada species with its rusty brown coloration and yellow spots on its back. I featured this Cuckoo Bee in an earlier post this spring titled It's a Bee Eat Bee World.

Cleptoparasitic bees don't fashion their own nests but instead lay their eggs in nests of other ground dwelling bee species.

This Sphecodes species was a new sighting for me, very distinctive with its bright red body. It was also enjoying the nectar offered from the Wafer Ash. Neither of these Cuckoo Bees forage for pollen because they're not building their own nests.

What's fascinating about the Sphecodes bee, is that is belongs to the insect Family Halictidae (Sweat Bees) not the cleptoparasitic subfamily of Nomadinae (Cuckoo Bees).

The Sphecodes are parasites of the Sweat Bees, the same family in which they belong. Depending upon their social relationship to the host species, they can be cleptoparasites or just social parasites.

Cleptoparasites - Seek and Destroy
"A female of the solitary Sphecodes enters the nests of other solitary bees to lay an egg while the host female is away foraging. Once in the nest, although most other cleptoparasites do not harm the host's egg, a female Sphecodes destroys the host's egg before laying her own." (Attracting Native Pollinators)

Social Parasites - Coup d'Etat
If they're social parasites, they "enter the nest and in some way replace the queen, so that the host workers then tend and rear Sphecodes offspring." (Attracting Native Pollinators)

Native Plant of the Week: False Solomon's Seal ~ Maianthemum racemosum

False Solomon's Seal ~ Maianthemum racemosum (Smilacina racemosa)


False Solomon's Seal is a wonderful woodland perennial native. Commonly occurring in the woodlands here in central Minnesota, it has large rhizomes that give rise to nice clusters.

It has just finished flowering this year, the large stalkless leaves alternate up the zigzagging stem with the flower cluster terminating at the top.

The branched cluster is comprised of tiny, 6 parted white flowers giving it a plume-like appearance.

Tiny sweat bees (Lasioglossum species) are attracted to the flower's nectar and get covered with pollen as they visit.

The blue-gray Spring Azure butterflies also seek out nectar from the flowers as they flutter clumsily through the woodland understory.

While looking at some tiny tumbling flower beetles, I spotted this moth that was also nectaring. It's Neoheliodines cliffordi (no common name), whose leaf-skeletonizing larva occur on wild four o'clock, Mirabilis nyctaginea. (www.microleps.org)

Beetles also love the flowers, I've seen at least 4 different types. I have yet to identify this long-horned ant-like beetle.

False Solomon's Seal is a very adaptable native for the home landscape. It can tolerate quite a bit of sun as well as shady locations. It does really well in our dry, sandy soils but also performs well in loamy, mesic locations.

It reaches heights of 24-30" and has a wonderful arching habit. It looks really nice in combination with lower growing Wild Ginger. Plant amongst earlier flowering natives such as Bloodroot or Hepatica for a long lasting display of spring color.

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
2011. North American Plant Atlas. Chapel Hill, N.C.

False Solomon's Seal is native to western and eastern North America. See map for range.