Other creatures in the garden

We do need to also acknowledge the other insects in the garden.

They may not be as attractive or appealing as bees, butterflies and birds, but they have a purpose.

The Cuckoo Sweat Bee Female Gnat-Sized "Sphecodes" on the red buckwheat for example,

doesn't collect pollen for its young or make their own nests. They steal hard-earned pollen balls from other bees' nests and lay their eggs in the other bees' nests, too.

These are Genista Broom Moth caterpillars on one of the yellow lupine shrubs.

I just learned that they are pests. The young larvae spin webs to join leaves together to feed on the leaves inside the web.

They could damage young plants and defoliate entire shrubs if there are enough of them.

Wasps consume them.

Both yellow lupine shrubs really suffered from the invasion of green aphids, these caterpillars, and mildew.

Time to dig them out and plant another native plant that's hardier.