Category Archives: Pollinators

In spite of the many pollinator gardens along the MRG and the heavenly scent of the blooming milkweed , pollinator sightings have been minimal: Cabbage moths, a few bees and butterflies . . .and right now, long-horned Red Milkweed Beetles. Those can be found on the common milkweed growing at the intersection of High/Mascom/Mechanic streets MRG Pollinator Garden. Their red and black bodies are easily seen on the bright green leaves – no need for camouflage since predators quickly learn the beetles are toxic from the milkweed sap they eat. You may even see them rubbing their mouths on leaves to prevent sap build-up which can actually fuse their mouths if it hardens. Seeing one on a purple coneflower makes me wonder if flowers other than milkweed make better napkins?!

“Oh, it’s so overgrown!” said a woman coming back to her car after running on the MRG. She was commenting on one of the pollinator gardens. I wish I had said “Think meadow.”

Were it not for the dandelions, Creeping Charlie, clover, self-seeded violets, wild strawberry flowers, and a few wild mustard plants, there would be very little nectar and pollen for bees in the MRG pollinator gardens this time of year. The pollinator gardens are more like wild meadows than formal gardens. Many pollinators are attracted to goldenrod, milkweed, dandelions, wild mustard; these flowers would likely be weeded out of a formal garden. In order to provide a variety of flowers from Spring through late Fall, it helps to scrap the idea of an orderly garden and seems better to work with the natural world. Yes, as the season progresses, there will be some showy flowers too, but it is satisfying to see that the creeping charlie was there for this tri-colored bumblebee. Think meadow!

Work on the tunnel this Spring destroyed the MRG pollinator garden on the Goss Logan hillside. Only the hardiest of perennials survived. Red bee balm was one of the survivors . . .  and it attracted this tiny hummingbird moth. These Dr. Seuss-like creatures have hummingbird energy, hovering and darting about. The proboscis and antennae are like those of butterflies. The furriness and striping are like bumble bees. The tail is like that of a lobster.

The caterpillar stage of the hummingbird moth looks much like a tomato hornworm. Hard to believe that this creature that looks so much like a hummingbird could emerge from such a caterpillar!

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Hummingbird Moth Caterpillar Stage

Rain refreshed the various pollinator gardens along the MRG today – there were pollinators aplenty!

Silver Spotted Skipper on Echinacea

Tiny bees on Black-eyed Susan

Bee on Bee Balm

Silver Spotted Skipper on Liatris

Sweat bee on Echinacea

It was exciting to spot a hummingbird moth in the MRG parking lot pollinator garden  (west of the overpass near Alice Peck Day Hospital.)

The first sighting of a hummingbird moth can be very confusing; Is it a bird? A big bee? A butterfly? A moth? It buzzes, hovers, and flies from flower to flower like a hummingbird . Instead of a beak like a hummingbird, it has a long tongue-like proboscis that can reach the nectar deep inside flowers. The antennae, colors, and furryness make it look like a bumble bee . . . and the tail is like that of a lobster. It looks like a creature designed by Dr. Seuss! This one lingered longest on the liatris, which seems to be a favored perennial of many pollinators..