September 25, 2011 - Insect Magnets
Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

Most wildflowers have blossomed and set seed by now, but goldenrod is in its prime. A yellow oasis of nectar and pollen, these plants attract a variety of insects intent on feeding. Butterflies, beetles, flies honeybees and other bees chow down hungrily at goldenrod way stations. With over 100 species of goldenrod across North America, insects have a variety of choices. Goldenrod produces a good nectar crop when there is sufficient rain before flowering time and the weather is warm and sunny when they bloom. As insect visitors leave with their nectar meal, they carry pollen grains clinging to legs, head, antennae and bodies. As with many insect-plant relationships this one provides mutual benefits. For the goldenrods, insects are the means to cross pollinate their flowers. For the insects, goldenrods provide a last feeding hurrah before cold weather arrives.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.