Pease Park Patch
Urban parks are more than recreation venues; they are critical biodiversity refugia as well. A recent study by Sanz and Caula (2014) states that several studies have shown that urbanization usually leads to severe biotic homogenizing, i.e. the local extirpation of many native species and the expansion to regional scales of a small group of “urban-adaptors”, some of them exotics. They report that omnivorous birds were common along the gradient and granivores were also tolerant to urban development. Specialized insectivores and frugivores were the most negatively affected groups.
According to the Entomological Society of America (ESA),
Over half of all multi-cellular animal species are insects. Therefore, they play dominant, vital roles in the functioning of ecosystems. They are one of the few organism classifications that define the complex nature of biodiversity. How sensitive insects are to an ecosystem and its degradation provides a persuasive argument for using appropriate insect taxa as indicators of biodiversity. Monitoring key insect groups can define ecosystem stability and signal actual or potential shifts in productivity, desertification, nutrient cycling, and other changes.
Earth’s long-term well being may depend on a solid understanding of how biodiversity functions.
Insects are one of the few key groups of organisms that define the complex nature of biodiversity, and their condition is indicative of ecosystem health.
Identifying the species that inhabit an ecosystem is fundamental to understanding that ecosystem’s biodiversity. Therefore, research on insect systematics and taxonomy is encouraged as part of biodiversity assessment.
Bees are in trouble. Honey bees are not the only bees that are struggling. The total number of managed honey bee colonies has decreased from 5 million in the 1940s to only 2.5 million today.
In many places, bumble bees have declined by as much as 70%. Creating, protecting, and restoring habitat is a very important way to conserve the populations of bees that remain.
Bees (wild and domestic) perform about 80% of all pollination worldwide. A single bee colony can pollinate 300 million flowers each day!
A successful harvest depends on insect pollinators, mainly bees, for 1 of every 3 bites of food eaten worldwide. That’s most of the planet’s Top 100 food crops, or 70% of the crops providing 90% of human food.”
A beautifully simple solution to the problem is the creation of wildflower meadows or pollen patches.
These are the underpinnings for my conceiving of a program to develop a series of "pollen parks" or "pollen patches" in city parks. The first of these is being planned for Duncan Park in Austin, Texas. These pollen patches will provide food for insects that feed on pollen and nectar, and for those predatory insects that feed on the pollinators. In addition, these interpreted gardens will expose city dwellers to the insect diversity that exists literally at the ends of our noses.
This is my gallery of insect images from a small mesquite/grass (savannah) patch in Pease Park on the east side of Shoal Creek between West 24th and MLK. This small patch (around 1/2 acre) is off the beaten path and is rarely maintained. As a result, this is one of the few areas within the park with a diversity (even if limited) of plant species. Many of these plants were placed in the patch in recent years as part of an effort to diversify the native habitats in the park. The patch has received little maintenance in the intervening years, although recent rains have sparked a resurgence of growth.
All of the images were taken in September and October 2014.
Shoal Creek
Shoal Creek looking north toward West 24th, mesquite patch on the right
Low Menodora or Redbud (Menodora heterophylla)
Low Menodora or Redbud (Menodora heterophylla)
Broomweed (Xanthocephalum dracunculoides)
Broomweed (Xanthocephalum dracunculoides)
Sunflower Goldeneye (Viguiera dentata)
Sunflower Goldeneye (Viguiera dentata)
Black Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail (Papilo polyxenes)
Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia)
Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole), winter form
Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole), winter form
Little Yellow (Pyrisitia lisa)
Little Yellow (Pyrisitia lisa)
Little Yellow (Pyrisitia lisa)
Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)
Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)
Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus)
Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus)
Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus))
Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak (Strymon istapa)
Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis)
Western pygmy-blue
western pygmybluebrephidium exilis
From Shoal Creek
Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus))
Sachem (Atalopedes campestris)
Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)
Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala)
Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius)
Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis)
Southern Skipperling (Copaeodes minima)
Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia)
Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia)
Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia)
Bordered patch (Chlosyne lacinia)
bordered patchchlosyne laciniapeaseparkpatch
From Insects
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
American Snout
American snout (Libytheana carinenta), Shoal Creek, Austin, Texas, by Ted Lee Eubanks
Jumping Spider Mimic Moth (Petrophila jaliscalis)
jumping spider mimic mothpetrophila jaliscalispeaseparkpatch
Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva punctella)
Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva punctella)
Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva punctella)
Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva punctella)
Mallophora fautrix
Soldier Fly (Hedriodiscus truqui)
Soldier Fly (Hedriodiscus truquii)
Soldier Fly (Hedriodiscus truquii)
Syrphid Fly (Palpada vinetorum)
Bee Fly (Bombyliidae) Poecilanthrax lucifer
bee flybombyliidae speciespeaseparkpatchPoecilanthrax lucifer
Scentless Plant Bug (Harmostes reflexulus)
Spot-sided Coreid (Hypselonotus punctiventris)
Spot-sided Coreid (Hypselonotus punctiventris)
Cactus Bug (Hesperolabops gelastops)
Nymph Leaf-footed Bug (Leptoglossus)
Oncerometopus nigriclavus
Oncerometopus nigriclavus
Leaf-footed Bug Nymphs