
ENT532 Fall 2024: Image of tall goldenrod plants at Shingletown Gap
I encountered a patch of goldenrod (Solidago sp.) with plants of variable heights. To determine whether the height affects which insects are present on the plant, I observed several short plants, then several tall plants for 10 minutes. On the short plants, which were 2-3 feet tall, I observed ants crawling up and down the stem and several small black beetles in the flowers. There was much more diversity on the tall plants, which were between 4 and 5 feet tall. In 10 minutes, I observed 3 honey bees (Apis mellifera), a sweat bee (Halcitidae), an assassin bug (Reduviidae), several aphids (Aphididae), two small green spiders (Araneae), and a small grey beetle (Coleoptera). I have several hypotheses that could explain the greater diversity on the taller plants. It may be that their height makes these plants easier for flying insects to sense as they are slightly closer to an insect flying over the patch of plants and the taller plants may visually obscure the shorter ones. There also may be a correlation between height and nutrient content; perhaps plant height is an indicator of health and taller plants also have preferable nutrient contents or more pollen. It would be interesting to remove flowers from plants, position them at different heights, and observe insect visitors to disentangle these factors.
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Work Title | ENT532 Fall 2024: Image of tall goldenrod plants at Shingletown Gap |
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License | CC0 1.0 (Public Domain Dedication) |
Work Type | Image |
Publication Date | September 24, 2024 |
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DOI | doi:10.26207/dada-pz74 |
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Deposited | September 24, 2024 |