PUSSY WILLOW INSECTS

      I planted our pussy willow shrub on our back lawn several years ago with the hopes of enjoying its furry, upright catkins early each March.  And we have every year as that multi-branched bush grew up to 30 feet, and more.  And I have also enjoyed a variety of insects on it every summer and fall, including in 2020.

     During June of this year, I saw little clusters of quarter-inch, gray, dark-spotted willow aphids sucking sap from smooth, tender bark on twigs and limbs.  Because of their coloring and sedentary ways, they were difficult to spot at first.  

     Meanwhile, scattered colonies of tiny, yellow aphids were on that shrub where they, too, were ingesting sap from the pussy willow.  These small aphids were attended by a kind of little, red and black, lady bug beetles and their knobby, red and black larvae.  Those attractive lady bugs, young and old alike, kill and suck out the juices of the tiny aphids as they sipped sap from thin bark.

     Each dusk, by late June and into July, hundreds of native male fireflies emerge from grass-roots-levels and fly into nearby trees and shrubbery.  There they regularly flash their cold, abdominal lights to stimulate female fireflies into glowing among the grasses.  When male fireflies spot the females' glowing lanterns, they fly to those females to mate with them.  And we see thousands of fireflies twinkling their beautiful lights across our lawns, creating an enchanting, silent evening scene, each day, through the first half of July.

     During the first half of July, every year, I notice hundreds of Japanese beetles chewing on pussy willow foliage, without significant harm to those adaptable, hardy bushes.  This beetle species is originally from Eurasia, but are in North America to stay because of their adapting to a variety of conditions and foods.  These beetles chew on the soft tissues among the tough veins of pussy willow leaves, but not the veins themselves, resulting in chewed-out, lacy works of art that eventually fall to the ground.

     However, Japanese beetles can harm green leaves, including on our pussy willow.  But this plant species is tough and bounces back after foliage damage.  Plus, groups of lively house sparrows swarm through pussy willows and eat many Japanese beetles that feed on foliage among the willows.

     In August, inch-long, brown, American cicada grubs crawl from the soil on lawns, climb trees and shrubs and squeeze out of their exoskeletons ready to mate.  I see some of their empty shells on our pussy willow and other structures in our yard.  While in trees and shrubs, male cicadas loudly vibrate their abdominal plates  to attract female annual cicadas to them for mating.  

       In September, a few spotted lanternflies perch on twigs and leaves of our pussy willow and other vegetation on our lawn.  Their closed wings are camouflaged on the bark of twigs and limbs.  But these large insects have lovely, readily visible red and yellow on each wing when they fly.

     An English ivy vine climbs over our pussy willow.  And it begins to bloom late in September and into October.  Honey bees, bumble bees, bald-faced hornets, yellow jackets, paper wasps, hover flies and other kinds of insects visit those tiny blooms to sip sugary nectar before the cold of winter shuts down both flowers and nectar-sipping insects.

     Our pussy willow is a lovely, intriguing shrub that has several insects using it at various times of summer.  Nature's beauties and intrigues are everywhere on Earth.  

     

                      

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