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Pollinator Patch: Insects as Garden Artists

If you have been following news about pollinator declines, you may know that evidence is mounting against a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids are one of the factors responsible for the large numbers of honeybee deaths reported in the springs of 2012 and 2013, just after corn planting.

If you feel you would like to help out our pollinators and other insects which contribute to the harmonious balance of our ecoystem called LIFE, Dr. Peter Kevan, professor emeritus at the University of Guelph, has proposed a new gardening contest, in which we can embrace the "pests" in our life and further eliminate a need to use chemicals against them. Curious? There are 3 ways you can win $50 for documenting the art that insects create in your garden! To encourage biodiversity in your garden, we challenge gardeners to enter a competition to show off this beauty.

1. The D. Wayne Goerzen Leafcutting Bee Prize: $50 and plaque

This prize is for the display of rose leaves that show the most interesting and beautiful array of cuttings made by leaf cutting bees. Leafcutting bees (Megachile species; Megachildae) are important native pollinators. The female bees live solitary lives, building tunnel nests in cavities such as hollow stems. They line the tunnels with a series of cups made of leaves or petals. In each cup they place a ball of pollen (a pollen loaf) on which they lay an egg.

2. The Joseph D. Shorthouse Rose Gall Prize: $50 and plaque

This prize is for the best display of galls on rose plants. There are several kinds of insects and mites that cause rose plants to develop galls that are the insects’ or mites’ homes. The tiny arthropods insert eggs into the tissue of the rose plants where the eggs hatch and develop. In developing, the insect larvae or young mites induce the rose plant to produce a swelling composed of its own tissue which serves to feed and protect the developing parasite. Most horticulturalists regard the galls as unsightly, but in fact, they take on beautiful forms. The gall formers rarely cause much damage to the rose plants that are their hosts. Some galls have a complex ecosystems within and the original gall former may be displaced by usurpers.

3. The Owen Lonsdale prize for the most exquisite serpentine leaf mines: $50 and plaque

This prize is for the best display insect-mined leaves pressed and presented on a card or series of cards. There are several kinds of leaf mining insects which burrow into the leaf tissue of garden plants. The mother insects insert eggs into the tissue of the leaf where they hatch and develop. In developing, the insect larvae eat the leaf tissue while remaining protected by the skin of the leaf. The mines can create beautiful patterns on the leaves, and the miners rarely cause much damage to plants that are their hosts.

All garden art entries will be judged at the Guelph Trial Garden at The Guelph Turfgrass Institute in Ontario, on the weekend of Apr 15-16. Mail your art with the following info:

Name, Address, Phone Number, Email

Date your art sample was collected

Location of sample, if different from mailing address

Plant name (if known)

Please mail entries by Aug 8th to:

Rodger Tschanz

Dept of Plant Agriculture, Bovey Bldg

University of Guelph, Guelph ON  N1G 2W1

Email: rtschanz@uoguelph.ca

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