Among the most widely cultivated and recognizable plants growing in gardens this time of year are sunflowers, members of the genus Helianthus. The showiest species and hybrid varieties within this cheery botanical club, such as common sunflower, often steal the limelight for their size and color. But it’s worth getting to know the Northeast’s three most common native Helianthus species: woodland, pale-leaved, and thin-leaved sunflower. [Read more…] about Native Sunflowers: Solar Avatars
butterflies
How Milkweed Tussock Moths Evade Predators
The black and orange stripes catch my eye as I swing the scythe through dew-laden grass. My eyes typically follow the tip of the 28-inch blade as I mow, trying to keep it level with the ground, but the contrasting color pattern pulls my attention to milkweed plants just a few feet to my right.
A group of seven very hairy caterpillars, sporting alternating tufts of black, white, and orange hairs, are nibbling away at a leaf. [Read more…] about How Milkweed Tussock Moths Evade Predators
Pollinator Conservation Grants for Disadvantaged Communities
A New York Natural Heritage Program survey from 2017 to 2021 found that at least 40 percent – and as much as 60 percent of pollinator species native to New York, including bees and butterflies – are at risk of disappearing from the state.
These losses are largely driven by habitat destruction, overuse of pesticides, and climate change.
The New York Community Trust and the Office of the New York State Attorney General have announced 2026 grants from the New York Pollinator Conservation Fund, supporting pollinator conservation efforts in disadvantaged communities across New York State. [Read more…] about Pollinator Conservation Grants for Disadvantaged Communities
Invasive Laurel Wilt Confirmed on Long Island
Laurel wilt, an invasive fungal disease that affects sassafras and spicebush, was detected on Long Island this summer, marking the first discovery of the deadly plant disease in New York State.
Originating in Asia and first identified in the United States in Georgia in 2002, the disease is now present in multiple southeastern states, with the northernmost cases prior to the New York find occurring in Kentucky and Virginia. [Read more…] about Invasive Laurel Wilt Confirmed on Long Island
Help Monarchs on their Long Migration South
In New York, Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) begin their annual fall migration in mid-August. These butterflies are the great-great-grandchildren of the monarchs that migrated to Mexico last fall.
Here are some ways you can help monarchs: [Read more…] about Help Monarchs on their Long Migration South
Baltimore Checkerspot Butterflies: Audacity on the Wing
A few summers ago, I was walking my dog in a pasture near my house when a butterfly landed on my bare leg. It was a medium-sized black butterfly with orange crescents along the margins of its wings and rows of white dots adjacent to the border. Its antennae were tipped with orange clubs. On the underside, the butterfly displayed a striking checkerboard pattern of orange, black, and white.
It was a Baltimore checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton) – the first time I’d ever seen one. [Read more…] about Baltimore Checkerspot Butterflies: Audacity on the Wing
The Real Story of the Viceroy & the Monarch
On a warm summer morning, you’re sitting in your yard enjoying a slow moment, when a flash of color catches your eye. Bright orange and black wings dance through the air before alighting on a purple coneflower.
There’s a good chance your first thought is “monarch butterfly.” After looking at the butterfly more closely, however, you realize it’s not quite right for a monarch. It’s a bit too small, and there’s a black line bisecting the black veins on both hind wings. This is no monarch: this is a viceroy butterfly. [Read more…] about The Real Story of the Viceroy & the Monarch
Insect Declines: ‘The Great and Merciless Thinning’
The black flies emerged early this year in the Adirondacks, but we should expect to be harassed by another brood before Father’s Day. It would be a matter of concern if we weren’t.
According to the latest “Bugs Matter” report from the UK-based conservation charity Buglife, “the number of bug splatters on vehicle license plates in the UK has declined 63% since 2021.” [Read more…] about Insect Declines: ‘The Great and Merciless Thinning’
US Fish and Wildlife Calls For Protection of Monarch Butterflies
With its notable orange and black markings, the monarch butterfly is one of the most recognizable insects in the world. Now, with some populations plummeting, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the species as threatened.
In North America, monarchs are grouped into two long-distance migratory populations. The eastern migratory population is the largest and overwinters in the mountains of central Mexico. The western migratory population primarily overwinters in coastal California. [Read more…] about US Fish and Wildlife Calls For Protection of Monarch Butterflies
State Parks’ Reduced Mowing Program Boosts Nature
Through the ongoing implementation of the Reduced Mowing Policy — part of the New York State Pollinator Protection Plan — grow zones have become a staple at state parks and historic sites.
These zones, where native grasses and wildflowers are allowed to grow tall, benefit the environment and local wildlife, proving to be more sustainable than traditional mowed areas and enhancing visitor experience in new ways. [Read more…] about State Parks’ Reduced Mowing Program Boosts Nature
List of Species of Greatest Conservation Need Being Revised
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking public input on the draft list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need and associated species status assessments for use in updating New York’s State Wildlife Action Plan for 2025-35. [Read more…] about List of Species of Greatest Conservation Need Being Revised
September Native Plants for Pollinators
Just because it’s September doesn’t mean your garden is all done flowering. If you have been trying to encourage pollinators to come to your garden, they still need pollen and nectar. Adding later blooming plants to the garden will help all pollinators. It will encourage migrating monarch butterflies to visit your garden as they fuel up for their trip to Mexico.
If you don’t know where to start, here are a few native plants that can add some splendor to your September garden. [Read more…] about September Native Plants for Pollinators
Big Bend Preserve, An 860-Acre Addition to Moreau State Park
The new Big Bend Preserve in Saratoga County, NY is now open to the public. Roughly the size of Central Park in New York City, this 860-acre addition to Moreau Lake State Park makes the park one of the ten largest in the State Parks system. [Read more…] about Big Bend Preserve, An 860-Acre Addition to Moreau State Park
White Admiral Butterflies: Winging Through the Woods
Walking on a woods road beside a stream in early July, I spotted several tight clusters of butterflies perched on scat piles and on wet sand near the brook. When one of the butterflies spread its wings, I saw that its topside was black with blue shading, and had a broad white band running through the center of its fore and hindwings, creating a U-shape. [Read more…] about White Admiral Butterflies: Winging Through the Woods
Caterpillar Defenses: The Varied Ways Caterpillars Avoid Predation
In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Alice stumbles upon a large mushroom. She peeps over the edge and encounters a caterpillar “smoking a long hookah, and taking not the slightest notice of her or anything else.” If Alice had touched the creature, she might have been in for an even bigger shock – forked horns, nasty smells, and other repellent tricks. [Read more…] about Caterpillar Defenses: The Varied Ways Caterpillars Avoid Predation
Buttonbush Is a Boon for Wildlife
As autumn begins and insect populations dwindle, many waterfowl species rely increasingly on seeds as a food source. Common buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), with its spherical bouquets of seeds now ripening, provides food for an array of ducks, geese, and other wetland denizens. [Read more…] about Buttonbush Is a Boon for Wildlife
Help Monarchs on their Long Migration South
Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) began their annual fall migration around late-August. These butterflies are the great-great-grandchildren of the monarchs that migrated to Mexico last fall.
You can help monarchs by providing food (nectar) and keeping those areas protected: [Read more…] about Help Monarchs on their Long Migration South
Chrysalis Surprise: A Parasitoid Wasp
A caterpillar eats and eats, becomes a chrysalis, and after a period of metamorphosis emerges as a beautiful butterfly! Except, sometimes… it doesn’t quite work that way.
Occasionally, while sitting on my deck, I spot smallish, orange butterflies landing on our hop plants. Their upper wings, about two inches across, are bright orange with dark blotches and eyespots, but camouflage brown on their underside. These are eastern comma butterflies (Polygonia comma), named for a silvery marking on the hind wing. If I look closely after one has flapped away, I can find one or two tiny, peridot eggs that it left behind on a hop leaf. [Read more…] about Chrysalis Surprise: A Parasitoid Wasp
Native Plant Spotlight: New York Asters
New Yorkers will enjoy beautiful purple against red-and-yellow leaves this fall season with New York Asters (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii), a native wildflower found across the state. [Read more…] about Native Plant Spotlight: New York Asters
Spicebush Swallowtails: Beauty and Defense
At first, I suspected it was the deer that had almost completely defoliated the northern spicebush sapling I had planted just weeks earlier. Only days prior, it had been brimming with new growth, and now all that remained were two leaves wrapped into cigarlike cylinders. Curious, I inspected this pair of surviving leaves. At the opening of each, snug between the leaf edges, was a bulbous green head adorned with a set of black, cartoonish eye spots. I had found my perpetrator, and it wasn’t the deer; it was the caterpillars of the spicebush swallowtail. [Read more…] about Spicebush Swallowtails: Beauty and Defense