An ecosystem is a web of interactions between many different organisms, all adapted to live in harmony with each other — or sworn enemies constantly evolving and adapting to outwit the other. This relationship is easy to spot with larger animals such as elk and mountain lions, but gets a little trickier as the scale gets smaller. Insects and plants have evolved together; sometimes this relationship is beneficial and other times, not so much.
Some plants may trick insects into pollinating them, by either using flower shape or producing nectar to lure in the bugs.
A fascinating symbiosis occurs between the yucca plant and the yucca moth. These species are so dependent on each other that they cannot survive alone. Adult yucca moths emerge in sync with the yucca blooming and mate within the flower.
The female moth gathers pollen as she visits different plants and lays eggs in the ovaries of the flower. The larvae feeds on the seeds of the fruit and forms a cocoon in the soil, where it lays dormant until it emerges as an adult the following spring.
Another example of a picky pollinator is the globemallow bee, which is specialized to pollinate globemallow plants.
Contrary to popular belief, not all pollinators and pollen producers are made equal. Though generalists like the honey bee will feed on any available nectar, our local native bees are more selective and require the native species that they coevolved with.
Invasive species are the No. 2 threat to biodiversity after habitat loss, and they directly threaten our ecosystems by outcompeting native plants, and thereby displacing native pollinators.
This creates homogeneous ecosystems filled with the same plants and the same species wherever you go — our great wild places turned into the front page of Better Homes and Gardens.
One way to combat invasive species is to use working-class insects, also referred to as biocontrols.
Invasive species are a problem because they are transported to new environments through artificial means and leave behind the herbivore guild and diseases that keep them in check. Biocontrols are species that coevolved with the invasive species in their native range and are introduced in the invasive range.
It seems like a bad idea and there’s an episode of “The Simpsons” about this and a nursery rhyme; however, biocontrols are host-specific and run a gamut of studies that ensure that they will die in the absence of their host plant.
An interesting example of coevolution is showcased between the musk thistle seed pericarp thickness (seed shell) and the musk thistle weevil rostrum length. If the weevils rostrum is too short, it can’t penetrate the pericarp, too long and the weevil cannot pull itself from the soil once it’s mature; if the pericarp is too thin the seed dies from exposure, if it is too thick the seed can’t feed itself and dies. Thus, the two species are locked in a stalemate.
These interactions between insects and plants illustrate the interconnectedness of our ecosystems and how each species might be a raindrop in the river, but the river would be less without that drop.
Archuleta County Weed and Pest is your local resource for managing noxious weed populations and controlling other pests.
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CPR and first aid classes
CPR and first aid certification classes are offered every other month at the CSU Extension office, generally on the third Monday and Wednesday from 6 to 10 p.m. The cost for the classes is $80 for combined CPR/first aid and $55 for CPR, first aid or recertification. Call the Extension office at (970) 264-5931 to register.
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