Look at all the cool bugs (and birds) that appeared after I started replacing my lawn with native plants last year!

Last year, I started replacing my lawn with a native prairie garden. This year, I was amazed at the dozens of different insects that appeared that I had never seen before.

These were all found in a 1000 sq ft area of that I replaced. In total, I have about 2500 sq ft in transition to prairie garden.

Critters in order:

Ruby-throated hummingbird

Squash vine borer

Striped green sweat bee

Golden digger wasp (they love swamp milkweed)

Not sure if this is a wasp or flying ant

Painted lady butterfly

Hoverfly

Monarch caterpillar and adult

Goldfinch (they love Agastache scrophulariifolia seeds)

Garden spider

Common eastern bumblebees (I think)

Great black wasp/black digger wasp

Snowberry clearwing moth

Large milkweed bug

Bumblebee on joe pye weed

Red admiral butterfly

Cuckoo? bee and goldenrod soldier beetle tussling

Bumblebee on blue lobelia

Pure green sweat bee (I think)

Goldenrod soldier beetle

Music:

Sarah, the Illstrumentalist / Japanese Garden / courtesy of Epidemic Sound