northeast-flora-and-fauna

I was thinking recently about all the organisms that benefit from milkweed plants. (Some but not all of these also apply to dogbanes.) Just like trees support insects, birds, squirrels, and lichen as either homes or food, on a smaller scale milkweeds provide similar benefits: Perhaps their most famous connection is to Monarch butterflies, whose caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweeds (mostly leaves). They're not the only lepidopterans whose caterpillars rely on milkweeds; the Milkweed Tussock Moths also eat milkweed (and dogbane). It's not unusual to find aphids on milkweed plants. Some aphids like the Oleander Aphid are invasive, but they are insects that frequently feed on milkweed plants. And if aphids are eating milkweed, this is also likely to attract lady beetles that want to eat the aphids. Finally, the aphid poop is a sweet substance called honeydew that frequently causes Sooty Mold to grow. (I don't recall seeing aphids on dogbane, but they're documented...

I met this shiny green guy, a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle , at the Plainsboro Preserve about 3 weeks ago. One interesting thing about them is that, despite the name, they sometimes have more or less than 6 spots (though I assume 6 spots is the most common). Though they're not very big, they do stand out when on bare ground; it looks like they're camouflaged more for being in greenery. They are sometimes confused with the less attractive Emerald Ash Borer , a beetle that's decimating our ash trees since sneaking into the country. (They don't look terribly similar to me, though they are both small green beetles.) The Six-spotted Tiger Beetle definitely won't hurt your ash trees (or any other vegetation) since they prey upon small arthropods instead.  April 28, 2021 at the Plainsboro Preserve Photo 128318894, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)