Hi again everyone, and happy summer! I’m about to hit month four of working as a stewardship technician here in Oakland Township and I’ve been having a blast exploring and learning about our parks. Although we are mostly searching for invasive plants, I’m always keeping an eye out for my insect friends. I’ve especially enjoyed going on Wednesday morning bird walks and chatting bugs with the volunteers (shoutout Cam, Aaron, and William)!

Most of my insect knowledge centers around our typical pollinators like bumble bees and butterflies, and I have seen so many of these species in our parks! However, as I’ve been taking a closer look and communicating with our amazing volunteers, I’m noticing some strange insects that I haven’t seen before.

Have You Ever Seen an Owlfly?

A few weeks ago, while putting cages around some yellow lady slippers, my fellow stewardship technician Torrey called me over and asked me what this insect was (pictured above). “That’s a dragonfly! Wait… no. That’s a dragonfly mixed with a butterfly?” I said. We consulted trusty iNaturalist to discover that it was an owlfly, an insect I had never heard of!

Owlflies are in the order Neuroptera, an order that I learned a little about when I took an entomology course in college. The adults of this order are known for their membranous wings and the larvae are known for being specialized, and often crazy looking, predators.

Or This Wasp-Like Insect?

Like the owlfly, this little guy also looks like a hybrid of two insects- a mantis mixed with a wasp! This is a brown wasp mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea), also in the order Neuroptera. Volunteer Aaron Carroll spotted this one at Charles Ilsely Park perched on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)! They will sit and wait there for small insects to land, using their raptorial forelegs to capture them as prey.

As a big pollinator fan, I am always curious to know if insects besides bees and butterflies are doing any pollinating when I see them hanging out on a flower. So, I did some digging and discovered that these mantidflies very well might pollinate! A 1983 study compared pollen loads on honey bees and mantidflies and found that the mantidflies do end up carrying some pollen on their bodies (legs & mouthparts), although the bees carried more.

What’s This Beetle Doing?

Pictured above is another unlikely pollinator that Aaron found at Stony Creek Ravine Nature Park- the bee-like flower scarab (Trichiotinus piger). Their hairy underside is a pollen magnet, and you can see this one carrying some pollen grains on their face too! These beetles can look like bees when they’re in flight, hence the part of their name “bee-like”. This mimicry may help them avoid predation.

The fact that I still get to discover things in nature is the reason I love working in this field and being a part of this community. Knowing that more weird insects exist that I’ve never seen before is so exciting and makes me want to keep searching our parks and beyond! I feel especially compelled to keep my eye out for them since insects are declining worldwide. If you are also feeling compelled to search for/learn about insects, iNaturalist is a great resource.

Stay Tuned – Bumble Bee Surveys in Progress!

As part of an independent project during my time here I am conducting bumble bee surveys at a few parks. If you are interested in doing surveys of your own or just learning about bumble bees in general, please refer to the resources linked below. I have already found some exciting species so far, so stay tuned for my survey results at the end of the summer!

General bumble bee resources:

About Bumble Bee Watch – Bumble Bee Watch

Bumble Bee Field Guide – Bumble Bee Watch

Michigan specific resource:

Michigan Bumble Bee Atlas – Michigan Natural Features Inventory