Greetings from the homestead! It's pollinator season! The winged ones are all over the homestead and it's a true blessing to watch.
At any hour of the day, I can walk around the land and see multiple species of butterflies, bees of all types and yes less desired ones like stink bugs and Japanese beetles! Another winged one has been catching my eye all season and I went out yesterday to try to capture it with my digital camera.
The butterflies are more gregarious with my camera, but this creature, a "bumble bee mimic" immediately flew away when it saw me coming! I had to court it and wait a bit. I'm pretty good at this type of persistence. Spending a lot of time in nature, part of the fun is the patience of observation. It's especially rewarding when you finally get the shot!
Snowberry Clearwing
What a name! Also known as the Flying Lobster or Hummingbird Moth, these aren't to be confused with the Hawk Moth of Europe. Hemaris diffinis's wings beat at 70 beats per second, making this one a difficult specimen to photograph! This one certainly zipped around the Anise Hyssop only pausing to stick its proboscis into the inviting lavender flowers.
Many gardeners may also carry disdain for a relative of the Snowberry Clearwing, the Sphinx moth. Yes, you guessed it, it is the moth of the hornworm known for devastating tomatoes especially, but targetting many members of the Solanaceae family. No worries, the Flying Lobster's caterpillar wont devastate your tomatoes the way this other "hummingbird moth" will.
In fact, be happy if you cross the path of this creature! A sighting is rare indeed! You can encourage the presence of these day-time moths by planting habitat that they enjoy. They have loved our Anise Hyssop (part of the mint family) this year. Other plants they enjoy include: Japanese honeysuckle, beebalm, mints, red clover, lilac, phlox, snowberry, cranberry, blueberry, vetch, and thistles.
I love to find these creatures and delight even more in the names we've given them. My favorite for this one is the Flying Lobster! The Agastache (Anise or Giant Blue Hyssop) in our garden has been one of the main sites for a diverse host of winged ones. I highly recommend adding this easy-to-grow beautiful and useful (it's anise-flavored leaves are used as an herbal medicine) into your garden.
Free & Interesting Pollination Services
More than 70% of the world’s flowering plants rely on pollination which is essential for producing fruits and seeds.
With declining rates of pollinators happening all over our world, using even a small corner of your yard for pollinator habitat is a wise human move.
Many of the plants they delight in, like this hyssop, are easy to grow and delightful perennials. Pollinators are the strings that weave the ecosystem together. They not only pollinate plants which is a complex activity impossible to be easily replicated by humans or machines, they also:
- Help move nutrients through an ecosystem
- Enhance diversity through cross-pollination & increase crop yield
- Include species, like parasitic wasps and ladybugs, which eat garden pests keeping the need for pesticides and sprays down
- Basically are the conduits of plant evolution and resilient life-cycles!
Pipevine Swallowtail also loving the Anise hyssop - I'm telling you, this plant is pure pollinator gold!!