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bee Family Megachilidae Megachile Leafcutter Bee so cute!.JPG

Wildlife Wonderland

I live in a typical suburban neighborhood, on a small ¼ acre lot, one street from a busy four-lane thoroughfare.

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 ​Over the years, I have been continually amazed at just how quickly pollinators and other wildlife have moved in to even the smallest of garden spaces in my yard, here in the middle of suburbia.

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Curious of how many species of wildlife were living in my gardens, I started making a list of every bird, bug, mammal, reptile and amphibian I saw. In two years I have documented over 225 different species of wildlife.​​

 

The take away I have gotten from this:

Never underestimate the power of planting native

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Here are a few examples of the wildlife I have seen in my small space...

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Bumble Bees
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Bumble bees are social bees that live in colonies of anywhere from 50 to a few hundred individuals.
They are big and fuzzy and collect pollen in "baskets" on their back legs.
Bumble bees are important pollinators and capable of "buzz pollination", an amazing adaptation where the bee vibrates it's muscles to release the pollen of certain flowers. About 8% of plants require buzz pollination, a few examples include  tomatoes,  peppers, eggplant, blueberries and cranberries. These plants hold onto their pollen tightly and in order for that pollen to be relesed, the pollen producing structures on the flower must be vibrated at a specific frequency.
Bumble bees are one of about 50% of bees that can buzz pollinate. Interestingly, honey bees are not capable of buzz pollination.
So, if you get tomatoes and peppers out of your vegetable garden, give a big thank you to the bumble bees! 

Solitary Bees
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Over 90% of bees in North America are solitary. Female solitary bees create and provision their nests all by themselves. They are very hard-working mamas.  About 70% of bees nest in the ground and 30% in natural tunnels like plant stems.

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Cuckoo Bees: Cleptoparasites

Butterflies and Moths
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Lepidoptera

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Beautiful Butterflies in the Garden

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Swallowtail Butterflies

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Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle

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Moths
Due to their nocturnal nature, moths are not seen when active as much as butterflies, but they are very important in pollination and for the health of ecosystems. Many adult moths are pollinators and the caterpillars are an essential food source for nesting songbirds. All but one songbird in North Carolina exclusively feed their babies "bugs" and caterpillars are a huge percentage of that food source. American Goldenfinches are the only songbird that feed their young seeds.

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Camouflage Caterpillars
These fascinating caterpillars attatch tiny pieces of plant material to their bodies to help them blend in with flowers 

Wasps
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Wasps are most often feared, but over 98% of wasp species are solitary, gentle and very beneficial. Wasps are both pollinators for flowers as well as predators of other insects, often those that are pests in our gardens.

Flies
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Flies are often disliked and considered pests, but in reality they are extremely important in a variety of ways. 
Many flies are pollinators as adults, and predators or decomposers as larvae. 
 

Predators "Bugs"
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Birds
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Reptiles and Amphibians
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