Spanish Needle (Bidens alba), a native wildflower found in tropical and subtropical regions, is considered a weed by many, and is undesirable where the "seeds" (achenes, actually) may cling to clothing or pets. That effective seed dispersal strategy is an annoyance to humans, to be sure. But as you will see, the species is so productive you may decide to give it a corner - or more - in which to grow!
Popular all during its bloom with pollinators and butterflies like this Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), during the Fall peak of its bloom, stands of the plant teem with life!
Here an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) nourishes itself on nectar.
Some female Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) are black in order to mimic the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) which is distasteful to birds.
A male Long-tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus) sips from a nearly depleted flower (Yes I know, it's a flower head. As an Asteraceae each "flower" is a head comprised of many flowers. The "petals" are called ray flowers and the central flowers are called disk flowers. For simplicity I'll simply call each flower head a flower.)
One can easily see the characteristic which gives the White M Hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album) its common - and species - name!
Florida's state butterfly, the Zebra Heliconius (Heliconius charithonia) drifting among Spanish Needle blossoms.
A Barred Yellow (Eurema daira) rests on a flower still wet with dew.
Tropical Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus oileus) during a brief and infrequent pause in its rapid, darting flight.
The long proboscis of a Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes) delicately inserted into a disk flower of B. alba
The caterpillars of the Great Purple Hairstreak (Altides halesus) feed on Oak Mistletoe (Phorandendron serotinum), but the adults obtain their nourishment from nectar.
The Carolina Satyr (Hermeuptychia sosybius) is a butterfly of woodlands. If you've walked through damp Florida woods you've seen it fitting about at ground level. But like other butterflies, the adults need nectar for nourishment and energy.
Perhaps the most common butterfly on the masses of Spanish Needle (Bidens alba) across much of Florida is the Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola).
Butterflies may get all the attention but they are far from the only creatures to benefit from the bounty of B. alba, especially at its peak. This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) enjoys one blossom while a Honeybee (Apis mellifera) harvests nectar and pollen from another.
In many Florida locations the peak bloom of B. alba is so expansive that it may provide a surplus for Honeybees (A. mellifera). Beekeepers may harvest a Fall crop of honey and still leave sufficient stores to sustain colonies over Florida's relatively short winter dearth.
When most people think of bees, the Honeybee (A. mellifera) comes to mind first. Brought to North America by European settlers, Honeybees are naturalized across the continent. Their cousins, like this Halictid, a Metallic Sweat Bee (Agopostomon sp.), may not provide us with wax or honey, but they are important pollinators still. And don't overlook their delicate beauty which, if you'll give them the attention they deserve, enriches our experience of natural beauty!
You may have noticed neat round holes cut from the leaves of some of the plants in your garden. Resist the temptation to reach for poison, though! Those holes are cut by Leaf-cutter Bees (family Megachilidae); the pieces are used to line their nests, forming cells for in which larvae develop and pupate. Rather than pollen baskets on their legs, these bees collect pollen on specialized hairs on the underside of their abdomens.
Beetles (Order Coleoptera) are an enormous and diverse group of insects; with over 400,000 described species they represent about 40% of all insect life. Some, like this Margined Leatherwing Soldier Beetle (Chauliognathus marginatus) are pollinators - as you can tell by the pollen this individual carries from flower to flower as it feeds.
The larvae of Scoliid Wasps (Family: Scoliidae) parasitize many beetle species and are therefore considered garden beneficials. The adults are minor pollinators and are found on many wildflowers including - of course - Bidens alba. And yes, Love Bugs (Plecia nearctica) too are found on B. alba - and on everything else!
Known as "Flower Flies", members of the family Syrphidae are true flies (Order: Diptera). The group is diverse in appearance and behavior with some, like the one shown here, looking much like a House Fly (Musca domestica). But this one feasts of nectar and pollen rather than garbage and excrement!
Sipping nectar and gathering pollen from the abundance of the Spanish Needle (Bidens alba) Fall bloom is not without risk, though. Like lions drawn to a waterhole on the Serengeti, predators like this Crab Spider (Family: Thomisidae) can be numerous amid the blossoms.
While there are many others, such as Jumping Spiders (Phidippus sp.), the Crab Spiders (Family: Thomisidae) ( on the left) and the Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans) (on the right with a native Halictid Bee it has caught) are the spider species most numerous in most stands of B alba.
Spiders are able to take prey much larger than themselves. This Crab Spider (Family: Thomisidae) has caught a Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
As every beekeeper knows, there's a reason each Honeybee colony is comprised of tens of thousands of workers; not every forager will return to the hive! This one has fallen prey to another Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans)
Like Honeybees and Halictids, the much larger Bumblebees (Bombus sp.) feed heavily on the B. alba bloom. And they too are often taken, in this case to a Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans)
Some dislike the idea of predation, especially when the prey is as beautiful as the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) this Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans) has captured . But another level of beauty is found in the complexity and balance of a healthy natural system such as the temporary community created by the B. alba Fall bloom.
And, whether we appreciate or despise the fact, much predation does take place wherever potential prey gathers. Every natural system includes all the dynamics of life including birth and death, feeding and producing progeny. There is beauty to discover in each!
Despite some predation Butterflies, fueled by sugar rich nectar, will fulfill the "prime directive" of all Butterflies - reproduction! Some, like these Ocola Skippers (Panoquina ocola), will court as they flit from flower to flower.
Other Butterflies, like the Cloudless Sulfur (Phoebis sennae), engage in elaborate mid-air mating dances in which the male exudes pheromones to stimulate receptiveness in the female. Whatever the mating strategy the next generation is secured in part because of a plant too often overlooked - Spanish Needle (Bidens alba)!
All too soon the season of Bidens alba will pass. With flowers and leaves gone, all that is left is the enormous crop of Achenes bearing the seeds of next year's generation. Some of those seeds will sustain migrating and over-wintering birds. But when the final frost has passed many will germinate and the cycle will begin anew. What seems an ending is but a pause, latent with the promise of life and beauty to come!
I hope you have enjoyed this brief presentation. More importantly, may it prompt you to see with gratitude the awe-inspiring beauty which surrounds us on every side; in the great and the small, the common and the rare.
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Credits:
Photos and text by John A. Middleton Jr.