 |
| Pennsylvania Leatherwing on Sneezeweed/Helenium autumnale |
I've a new critter in the garden~This is the first Clay and Limestone sighting for this super duper cool Halloween colored soldier beetle. Am I ever glad I checked this critter out before dispatching it to bug Hades. Pennsylvania Leatherwings are highly desirable biological control agents. Simply stated~they are good bugs that eat bad bugs!
 |
| A highly beneficial rascal to have around the garden. |
Don't you think it resembles a Lightening Bug (LB)? I did, and that helped me discover its identity. Describing what it looked like and on which flowers it was feeding took me almost immediately to Pennsylvania Leatherwings. What a cool critter. It's no accident that the PLB resembles its close relative the firefly/Lightening Bug. Clever Mother Nature helps critters mimic poisonous look-a-likes and survive predators.
No smart bird or wasp wants to eat anything that resembles a firefly with their poisonous blood that oozes from the base of their wing covers. On the other hand~our orange hero is a tasty treat for birds, bats, spiders, ground beetles, and other small predators.
 |
| Soldier Beetles and Green Metallic Bee on Verbisina virginica |
Prof Michael Raupp wrote that, "Like other members of this clan, soldier beetles are natural born killers in both adult and juvenile stages and are highly beneficial rascals to have around the garden." (
source) The adult Pennsylvania Leatherwings are especially important predators of aphids and their larva consumes grasshopper eggs, aphids, small beetles, caterpillars and other soft bodied insects, most of which are pests.
Go here and here for more on their life cycle. I sure hope they lay eggs in the soil in my garden~I've had a plague of grasshoppers this year, so there will be lots of their eggs for them to nosh on!
 |
| A pest consuming machine |
The Pennsylvania Leatherwing may be a pest consuming machine but, they play an important role in pollinating native plants like
Helenium autumnale/Sneezeweed,
Verbesina virginica/
Frostweed and other native plants in natural areas and our gardens.
 |
| They supplement their diet with pollen and nectar |
I am tickled pink to find these beneficial insects living in the garden and dining on the natives that were added to the menu with this in mind. Later this month when the Goldenrod Blooms they may stop by to nosh on its golden pollen. When that happens I'll call them by their other common name: Goldenrod Soldier Beetle.
 |
| They're also Very Important Pollinators |
What's noshing in your garden?
xxoogail
