I started growing milkweed in and around my garden for the Monarch caterpillars. It turns out that lots of things love my milkweed. Over the seasons I spy skippers, honey bees, fritillaries, a variety of native bees, ants, the Monarchs (of course) and other butterflies, and even hummingbirds who hover long enough to check out the flowers. There are milkweed bugs and milkweed beetles, ladybugs, and crab spiders that hang out under the leaves waiting to snatch an unsuspecting fly.
And then there's this beetle - a daylight firefly that doesn't light up the sky, and who is nibbling milkweed buds.
This week choose a flower that's in bloom and watch the insects that visit it. How many different kinds of insects do you see? And do any birds drop by? Are there spiders lurking on the blossom or hiding in the leaves?
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