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Tag Archives: nectar
Can You Identify These Pollinators? Part 3: Hummingbirds
Sometimes moth species, like the white-lined sphinx (Hyles lineata) above, are mistaken for hummingbirds. Unlike most moths, it often feeds during the day. At first glance, its bulk, rapid wing movement, swift flight, and habit of hovering as it feeds resembles that of a hummingbird. No wonder these insects also are referred to as hummingbird moths. Continue reading
Posted in MG in the Garden, Pollinators
Tagged Archilochus colubris, bird feeders, eBird, Green Spring Gardens, hummingbird migration, hummingbirds, Hyles lineata, Lobelia cardinalis, Lonicera sempervirens, Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, nectar, ruby-throated hummer, rufous, rufous hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus, white-lined sphinx
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Can You Identify These Pollinators? Part 2: Butterflies
One of the joys of summer is to watch butterflies flaunt their shapes and colors by flitting, floating and fluttering from flower to flower. Attracted to clustered or composite blooms that are bright, red, purple, blue, and yellow, they pick up and transport pollen on their legs and wings. Continue reading
Posted in MG in the Garden, Pollinators
Tagged admiral butterfly, aspen, black oaks, brushfoot butterflies, brushfoots, buckeye, buckeye butterfly, butterflies, butterfly eyespots, butterfly predators, butterfly skippers, caterpillars, cherry, common buckeye, cottonwood, downy serviceberry, ecdysone, eyespots, foxglove, Junonia coenia, MGNV, milkweed, monarch butterfly, monkey flower, nectar, New York ironweed, pigment color, plantain, Poanes zabulon, Red-spotted purple larvae, rotting fruit, ruellia, sap, scrub, snapdragon, US to Mexico butterfly migration, verbena, Vernonia noveboracensis, Viburnum, white flowers, willow, Zabulon skipper
Can You Identify These Pollinators? Part 1: Bees, Wasps, Flies
During National Pollinator Week we challenged you to test your pollinator identification skills. Each day we featured a pollinator or two on our Facebook page with clues to the identity. This week we provide answers in three parts. Part 1 focuses on bees, wasps and flies. Continue reading
Posted in Pollinators
Tagged Apis mellifera, bees, Boltonia asteroides, Bombus auricomus, bumble bee, buzz pollination, digger wasp, Eastern bumble bee, entomology, Eupatroium hyssopifolium, European honey bee, flies, Flowers, fruit pollinators, gardening, Green Spring Gardens, ground-nesters, honeybee, hover flies, ladybugs, leafcutter bee, Ma, Master Gardener, MGNV, Monarda, nectar, pollen, pollinator, Scolia dubia, scolid wasps, Solidago canadensis, sonication, Sphex, sweat bee, syrphid fly, wasp
The Long View – Meditations on Gardening (Why We Garden)
Heeding the call to garden in an environmentally sound manner is a worthy objective. Continue reading
