Rudbeckia: A Vector for Parasitism & Predation

Black-Eyed Susan ~ Rudbeckia hirta


Rudbeckia is just starting to flower in open, sunny, dry locales. The bright yellow rays make excellent platforms for visiting insects. Some visitors are not only waiting for the central disk to develop its florets providing nectar and pollen, but for the bees it will attract.

Several of these Blister Beetles (Nemognatha species) were aggregated on the flowers this week.

They have strange looking mouthparts consisting of long maxillae that they use to suck nectar.

There's another reason why they visit flowers although, "females lay eggs on flowers, larvae attach to visiting bees and are carried to visiting bee nests where they eat bee eggs and stored food." (BugGuide.net)

Some of the first Jagged Ambush Bugs (Phymata pennsylvanica) of the season are on the Rudbeckia flowers. With their sickle-like enlarged forelegs, they wait for an unsuspecting insect to land on the flowers and 'ambush' them.

Photos From The Week

A Digger Bee Pollinates Stiff Goldenrod

A Macro Look at the Garden This Week

A Gray Tree Frog finds a
nice perch on a fallen oak leaf

Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) flowers

A Twelve Spotted Skipper Dragonfly clings to
Big Bluestem ready to warm up in the approaching sun

Northern Paper Wasp nectars on Boneset

A Leafcutter Bee Pollinates Nodding Onion

New Wasp Arrival - Thread Waisted Wasp
on Stiff Goldenrod

A Jagged Ambush Bug
waits for its prey to stop by on Helianthus.

Jagged Ambush Bugs - Stealthy Predators

Jagged Ambush Bugs ~ Phymata species
If you look closely on your flowering plants in full sun you'll most likely find an Ambush Bug lying in wait. These amazing predators look harmless at first with their lacy appearance and beautiful coloring.

On closer inspection though, you'll notice their enlarged forelegs with a "sickle-like tibiae, greatly reduced tarsi and huge swollen femora." (Insects Their Natural History and Diversity)

The coloring on Ambush bugs makes them extremely well camouflaged in amongst flowers. As their victims come in to nectar on flowers (most often bees and flies) they impale them with their long tubular mouthparts. These mouthparts are usually tucked up underneath their bodies when not in use.

"The Jagged Ambush Bug overwinters as an adult and lays eggs in the spring. Adults mature during summer." (Insects of the North Woods)

Have you seen Ambush Bugs in your landscape?