Insects on Asters

     For two hours one warm, sunny afternoon in the middle of September in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I sat in a planted patch of New York aster blooms on three foot stalks to see what kinds of insects were sipping nectar from those beautiful blossoms.  That clump of lovely aster flowers, each bloom being one inch across, with deep-purple petals and yellow centers, is the size of an average bedroom, and on the edge of a lawn in a tree-dotted park.  Blooming since late August, multitudes of New York aster flowers are pretty in themselves, and also attract many insects that help liven flower beds and lawns during September and into October.  And aster blooms of several kinds are the last large source of nectar for insects each autumn in this area.
     The planted patch of asters I studied was swarming with insects in competition for nectar.  Some insects on the blossoms bumped into each other in their quest for nectar, while spreading pollen from flower to flower.  
     Many bumble bees, carpenter bees and honey bees buzzed heavily from bloom to bloom and ingested nectar from each aster blossom they visited, some of the bees right where I was sitting.  But I was not concerned because I knew the bees wouldn't bother me: And they didn't.  In fact, I had the wonderful feeling of being right in the midst of the bees' activities, without disturbing them; and being exceptionally close to the beauties and intrigues of nature.
     The constant fluttering "dancing" of cabbage white butterflies and yellow sulphur butterflies among the lovely aster flowers made those insects the most visible from a bit of a distance.  After a couple of generations of both these species of butterflies that originated in Europe, they are common in this area by late summer, into autumn.  They are particularly abundant in alfalfa and red clover fields when those hay crops go to flower, adding more life and beauty to local croplands, until those hay crops are mowed.
     Hackberry butterflies and least skipper butterflies were the most common kinds of butterflies among those aster blooms.  The abundance of the hackberry butterflies is explained by a couple of hackberry trees in the park.  Hackberry caterpillars fed on the leaves of those trees until they pupated.  Least skipper larvae feed on grass before pupating into butterflies.
     The tiny least skippers are cute little critters darting about among the flowers.  And their big, dark eyes add to their appeal.
     A few each of buckeye butterflies, meadow fritallaries, silver-spotted skippers and monarch butterflies, all of which are quite handsome, sipped nectar from New York aster blossoms.  Their presence on the aster flowers is understandable because the larval foods of them all is nearby.  Buckeye larvae feed on low herbs, some of which grow in lawns.  Fritallary caterpillars eat violet leaves, which also grow in lawns.  The skipper larvae consume soybean leaves, which are in nearby soybean fields.  And monarch young ingest milkweed leaves that grow along country roadsides, in abandoned fields, and in some flower gardens.        
     Buckeyes have pretty wings, brown and orange with two fake, dark eyes on each of four wings.  Those "eyes" frighten away birds and other would-be predators on buckeyes.
     Monarchs are famous for migrating each September to California, Mexico, or Florida to escape the northern winter.  And the next spring those same monarchs start north, mate, spawn and die.  But succeeding generations continue winging north and keeping the species alive.
     While sitting among the multitudes of bees and butterflies on the asters, it occured to me that those insects are part of food chains.  Water, sunlight, soil and air are non-living elements that contribute to the growth of vegetation, including asters.  Bees, butterflies and other kinds of insects ingest the nectar of those flowers, and some of those insects, in turn, are eaten by birds and other kinds of creatures.  And other animals, including mice, bears and people eat the honey of bees.        
     It's amazing how many bees and butterflies are attracted to a patch of asters to sip nectar.  Nature in abundance always attracts me because it is inspiring.  It's then that I feel all is well with the world and there is a Being far greater than ourselves!  There's no better expression of that Being's creativity than wonderful nature, even among the works of people.