The Insects of Kenilworth Aquatic GardensKenilworth Aquatic Gardens is known for its flowers. In July, tens of thousands of visitors come to the gardens to see the beautiful lotus and lily blooms, along with native pickerel weed, ironweed and swamp rose mallow. However, none of these flowers would be blooming without the pollinators. Pollinators thrive at the gardens and we will highlight some of the vast amounts of pollinators on this page. 
Tim Ervin BeesAdorable bees can be seen throughout the park. Here are some of the most common bees seen in the gardens: Western (European) Honeybee, Apis Mellifera 
Jenny Glenn Carpenter bees are important pollinators of many flowering plants found in our gardens, natural areas, and on farms. In fact, 15% of our agricultural crops are pollinated by native bees such as carpenter bees. Carpenter bees are often considered pests because of their potential to damage wooden structures. Eastern carpenter bees are often mistaken for bumble bees because of their similar size and appearance. Carpenter bees have shiny abdomens and distinct black circles on the thorax, while bumble bee abdomens are fuzzy. The eastern carpenter bee is a less social species that nests above ground in cavities they create in wood. They create nests by chewing round holes into the wood with their mandibles. In fact, most bee species live underground in cavities or nests they excavate in the soil or inhabit preexisting above-ground cavities such as reeds, stems, or tree hollows. Using her mandibles, the female carpenter bee excavates a series of tunnels with chambers to house her offspring. She even uses the shavings from her excavation to create walls between the chambers. Within each chamber, the female carpenter bee lays an egg on a ball of pollen and nectar she collected. The egg will hatch into a larva and eat the pollen ball as its only source of food. 
Jenny Glenn The common eastern Bumble bees are important pollinators of many flowering plants and crops including tomatoes and blueberries. Bumble bees have fur all over their bodies; these hairs collect and trap pollen, which the bees carry from one bloom to another. The common eastern bumble bee has black hairs on its head, abdomen, and legs. The thorax is yellow. Bumble bees are social insects who live in colonies containing up to 300 to 500 individuals. Worker bees develop first, followed by males and new queens toward the end of summer. The colony cooperatively care for the nest and rear offspring. In the fall, worker bees, males, and the old queen die. 
Jenny Glenn Furrow bees are generalist feeders which means they will visit many different flowers, so diverse landscapes are attractive to them. They require sodium for good health, and they can’t easily find that in pollen or nectar. So, they are attracted to sweat produced by humans, and their tongues have evolved into a long, slender shape to more easily “lick” the perspiration off of human skin. They can also maintain their sodium requirements if they are located near a beach or where flowers receive a salt-water spray. For both solitary and eusocial species, the nests are prepared basically the same way. Offshoot channels branch out from the initial burrow tunnel and one egg will be placed in each of these tunnels along with a pollen ball upon which the larvae feed when they hatch. 
Jenny Glenn The denticulate longhorn bees have a gray or black abdomen with white stripes with steely blue eyes. Males have very long antennae, and often don’t stop for long on flowers. They patrol flowers looking for mates. Females are more robust than males and carry pollen in big brushy scopae on hind legs. They are most abundant wherever its host plant ironweed (Vernonia) occurs in eastern North America, from wet meadows to city gardens. They are solitary, ground-nesting bees. 
Jenny Glenn Hibiscus turret bees are typically found nesting in suburban and urban areas, as well as on hard-packed roads and levees cutting through wetlands, especially coastal salt marshes. Females construct nests underground in flat, highly compacted soils. Nesting sites are typically located near a source of water, so that females can moisten the nesting substrate and make it easier to dig. As females excavate, they leave small pellets of moistened soil outside the nest entrance. They are pollen specialist of large-flowered Malvacaeae, including swamp rose mallow, but also ornamental rose-of-sharon and okra. 
Jenny Glenn Pure green sweat bee adult females build nests in moist rotting wood, often in abandoned insect burrows, where they construct galleries of multiple cells, each cell receiving one egg. Each cell is provisioned with a ball of pollen and nectar and lined with a wax-like substance secreted by female wax glands. Adults are solitary and not social, meaning that there is no division of reproduction or labor. Therefore, if a female returns to her nest and finds it occupied by another bee, she will use her powerful jaws to remove it, even if it is her own offspring. They are generalist pollinators and are known to collect pollen from more than 20 flowering plants and forage primarily in forests and adjacent fields or prairies. 
Jenny Glenn The bicolored sweat bee is easy to recognize because its head and thorax are metallic green, and its abdomen is striped. White and black stripes mean it’s a female, while yellow and black stripes mean it’s a male. However, some females can have a solid green abdomen. The bicolored sweat bee is a solitary ground nesting bee. Each spring the female will dig a tunnel in an open patch of ground. Off the tunnel will be several branches. After building her nest, the female will gather pollen, take it back to her nest, form it into a ball with a little nectar and place it in one of the branches before laying an egg and sealing off that branch so each egg will have its own “room.” Once the egg hatches, the larva will eat the ball of pollen that its mother left for it. 
Jenny Glenn This is a eusocial bee, one that forms a colony that works together to rear young with labor divided amongst reproductive and non-reproductive castes. All the daily tasks in the nest are performed by worker bees. Specific tasks performed by workers include secreting wax and using it to glue the nest to a substrate, using harvested material to insulate the nest, incubating pupae by wrapping their bodies around the cocoons, regurgitating food for larvae, scraping wax off of discarded pupal cases and recycling it in the construction of honey pots, buzzing when alarmed, inspecting and patrolling the nest, foraging, and feeding. Thorax mostly yellow, with a circular patch of all black hairs between the base of the wings. First abdominal segment fully yellow, with workers typically having a brown or red patch of hair forming a crescent on segment 2. Queens occasionally have this coloration, but also often have an entirely yellow second abdominal segment. Males with similar coloration to workers, but with a yellow hair patch on the front of the face. 
Tim Ervin ButterfliesBees are not the only insect stars of the park. Butterflies enchant visitors and can be found both in the freshwater marsh area and around the ponds. Here are some of the most common butterflies at Kenilworth: Monarch Butterfly, Danaus plexippus 
Tim Ervin These bright yellow butterflies are named for the tiger-like black stripes on their wings. Some female tiger swallowtails are all black with darker black stripes and extra blue markings on their lower wings. These butterflies have various stages of life. They exist in the egg stage for about 5 to 10 days; the caterpillar stage for 3 to 4 weeks; the pupal stage for 10 to 20 days (or several months when overwintering); and the butterfly stage for anywhere from 6 to 14 days. Tiger swallowtails live for about 2 months in total, from egg to adult butterfly. A single female may lay as many as 250 eggs in her life. Many of these eggs do not hatch, and even those that do are often killed during the caterpillar or chrysalis stage. A relatively small percentage of tiger swallowtail eggs reach adulthood. 
Jenny Glenn The Zebra Swallowtail is easily distinguishable due to their wings being a distinctive black and white striped pattern, hence their name, similar to the striping of a zebra. Their bodies are pale greenish-white and they have a pair of red and blue spots near the base of the hindwing. Another interesting fact about them is their red antennae knobs. When it comes to the intriguing courtship and mating tactics, the male pursues and courts the female mid-air, a dizzying dance in the sky! This swirling procedure is a critical part of Zebra Swallowtail’s mating ritual. In its first caterpillar stage, the caterpillar has a brown and white color, resembling a bird dropping – an effective camouflage tactic against predators. It then transforms into a greenish yellow color with eyespots and finally developing blue rings. A distinguishing feature in every stage is the presence of a hidden scent gland, located behind its head. This gland, sometimes called an osmeterium, can be extended to produce an unpleasant smell when the caterpillar feels threatened. 
Jenny Glenn Spicebush swallowtail butterflies have forewings and bodies that are black. The forewings have a row of white spots near the outer margin and another small row on the margin. The hind wings are black with two orange spots, and a row of spots that fade from white to pale blue and a conspicuous pale blue area. In its first caterpillar stage, the caterpillar has a brown and white color, resembling a bird dropping – an effective camouflage tactic against predators. They will turn green with lovely blue spots. They also have ferocious eyespots, probably to deter predators. They usually feed on sweet bay, spicebush, and sassafras. 
Jenny Glenn Orange Sulphur butterflies have a distinct bright yellow coloration with various amounts of scaling in light orange. When the wings are open, both wings have black borders at the margins. When the wings are closed, they show a yellowish-orange color along with an indistinct row of tiny black spots by the margins. They also have a double spot at the center of the wings. The males have a solid black border around the wings, while the females have yellow spots in its place. 
Tim Ervin SpidersYou either love them or hate them, but spiders play an important role in the ecosystem. They help keep mosquito populations at bay and act as pollinators. Although not as well known for pollinating like bees and butterflies, spiders crawl from plant to plant and transfer pollen. Here are a few of the common spiders of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: 
Tim Ervin The black and yellow agriope is commonly known as the yellow garden spider, golden garden spider, writing spider, zipper spider, corn spider or Steeler spider (for your sports fans!). The egg-shaped black abdomen has orange and yellow stripes throughout, except for the middle, where there is one black stripe and a few yellow spots. The front part of the body has short silvery hair, and the eight legs are black with occasional red, yellow, and orange markings at the base (near the abdomen). They have a unique third claw on each leg that is used to assist in the weaving of the spider’s complex webs. Their webs are often large and have a zig-zag pattern in the center Once impregnated females lay one or more egg sacs in her web close to her resting position. Each egg sac contains anywhere between 300 to 1400 eggs. The mother watches over her eggs but will usually die at the first hard frost. Spiders usually hatch around autumn or summer. 
Jenny Glenn Jumping spiders are the largest family of spiders. Males are distinguished with a reddish-brown carapace and green iridescent scales that change color according on the angle of the light. They have short, striped legs that are ideal for jumping. Females have a darker look and a noticeable white band at the base of their comparatively bigger abdomens. Instead of using webs, they capture their pray by ambushing them and jumping on their backs. 
Jenny Glenn The green crab spider is a small, venomous arachnid with a unique appearance and behavior. They are known for their ambush predation strategy, patiently waiting for prey to come close before striking with speed and precision. Green crab spiders do not make webs to catch prey. Both sexes spin silk for different purposes. The males cover their mate with silk whose size could be double theirs. Whereas the female green crab spiders use it to make the sac for laying eggs. They have a light or emerald, green body, with red bands on both sides of their abdomen, that might or might not be present. The abdomen appears slender with a kite-like or diamond pattern. 
Jenny Glenn
There are too many pollinating insects to put on this page, but here are a few more of the most common insets you will see at the gardens: 
Jenny Glenn The differential grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis, ranges widely in North America. Originally restricted to tall herbaceous vegetation growing in wet meadows, swales, and creek bottom lands, the species spread into the weedy vegetation of crop borders, roadsides, and reversions brought about by settlement and agricultural development. The differential grasshopper is a mobile insect in both its nymphal and adult stages. After hatching from eggs concentrated in field borders and roadsides, the nymphs often move into fields by crawling and hopping. All go in the same direction as a cohesive band. Adults display strong powers of flight. These flights begin around 9 a.m. and reach a peak when temperatures rise to 81°F. 
Jenny Glenn Yellow Jackets are black with yellow markings. The first abdominal segment has a wide, anchor-shaped black marking and the cheek has a continuous yellow band that does not completely encircle the eye. Their subterranean nests are found in hardwood forests and creek banks, but also in urban and suburban areas. Within these areas, nests are typically built in sheltered places, which can include underground areas, tree stumps, and attics. 
Jenny Glenn Eastern Hornets are brown, with yellow stripes on their abdomen and a light-colored face. They build fragile, tan paper nests in concealed places like hollow trees, barns, outbuildings, hollow walls of houses, attics, and abandoned bee hives. Unprotected nests are covered with a brown envelope. The average nest contains between 200-400 workers. They feed on a variety of insects including yellowjackets, butterflies, and bees. Workers will also girdle twigs and branches of trees and shrubs (especially birch and lilac) to feed on sap and insects attracted to the sap. 
Jenny Glenn The number of dragonflies and damselflies you might spot at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens is staggering. These insects are identifiable by their long abdomens, well-defined thoraxes, and two pairs of wings. All members of the dragonfly and damselfly order are carnivorous, eating smaller insects. Thanks to their two pairs of complex and well-jointed wings, these insects are impressive aerialists, capable of high speeds, quick turns, and even hovering in mid-air, an accomplishment among insect-kind. These insects require water to reproduce. Larval damselflies and dragonflies live on the pond-floor as ambush predators towards other insect larvae or even, sometimes, fish. Adult dragonflies and damselflies are known to love chomping down on a tasty mosquito larve. Dragonflies- Usually larger than damselflies. They have thicker abdomens (the abdomen is the back segment of the insect) and large eyes that often come close to touching. Damselflies- Usually slightly smaller than dragonflies. They have thin, long abdomens and eyes that are noticeably separated on their faces. 
Jenny Glenn In the same order as bees and ants, wasps are diverse in their shapes, colors, sizes, and life histories. Wasps generally have a thin “waist” between their thorax and abdomen, and two connected pairs of wings. Many wasps eat other insects or spiders. The females especially may engage in carnivory, for the additional protein and nutrients needed for successful reproduction. Male wasps usually don’t have a stinger of any sort, while non-queen females have modified ovipositors that can be used to sting in self-defense. Unlike bees, wasps do not have a strongly barbed stinger. This is why they are able to sting multiple times; their stingers will not fall off or lead to their death after use. Many wasps have a specialized prey or host species, though they also consume nectar and pollen and act as pollinators of local plants. It is likely that wasps and flies were some of the main pollinator insects in North America prior to the introduction of the honeybee. 
Jenny Glenn Imagine a fly. In your mind’s eye, you probably see a housefly. It may have big red eyes and a metallic green or black body. However, true flies, members of the order Diptera, are diverse in shape, color, and size. The things that connect are flies are their compound eyes and single set of wings, with small set of “halteres” where other insects might have hindwings. Halteres are unique to flies and allow these insects to change direction quickly in flight. Flies were the main insect pollinators of many wildflowers before the introduction of the honeybee to North America. They are important to the beginning stages of the decomposition and composting process. 
Jenny Glenn Lady beetles are iconic for their bright colors, spotted backs, and rounded hard hindwings, also known as elytra. To some, it may be surprising to hear that there are at least 5 species of lady beetle that have been spotted in Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. Three of these species are introduced. Many lady beetles eat aphids, another type of insect commonly considered an agricultural or garden pest. Some species, such as the Asian Lady Beetle, were introduced to North America for the distinct purpose of controlling aphid populations. Native species include the Spotted Pink Lady Beetle and Polished Lady Beetle. |
Last updated: August 2, 2024