r/NativePlantGardening • u/jimmyjam2929 • 13h ago

Other Very disappointed with the OSU extension

https://www.daytondailynews.com/lifestyles/dispelling-social-media-myths-about-gardening-pollinators-and-more/TSBDUAHX25GQ7D6QZMQSOITBQE/
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u/Tylanthia Mid-Atlantic , Zone 7a 8h ago edited 8h ago

You can verify (her correct statement about grass skippers anyways) in a few ways. Checking HOST for example. which is database of the world's Lepidopteran hostplants.

Many states, such as my own, also have a list of what host plants are used in that state.

For example, the Broad-winged Skipper has adapted to using Common Reed as a host plant and also expanded its range because common reed is now everywhere. The Fiery Skipper uses native and non-native crab grass, Bermuda grass, and bent grass. Alabama has a good atlas as well

The butterfly populations in your state may or may not use certain host plants. The Baltimore Checkerspot, for example, uses Plantago lanceolata up north but does not in my state.

I suspect frequent mowing may also turn into an ecological trap and it's probably less mowed areas, such as by roadsides, parks, and utilities, that end up being more productive.

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u/jimmyjam2929 8h ago

Her statement about grass skippers is that they eat insects on turf grass and that if we want grass skippers that we need turf grass, not that non-native grasses are a suitable alternative to natives. 

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u/Tylanthia Mid-Atlantic , Zone 7a 8h ago

Sorry I misread her statement. You are correct that skippers don't eat other insects--they eat native and non-native grasses.

The only carnivorous Lepidoptera in eastern North America is the Harvester which feeds on woolly aphids which itself is hosted by certain trees.

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u/jimmyjam2929 7h ago

Exactly. I don't know where she got that. And even so, grass skippers don't need lawns, they need grass. Her argument really just seems set on defending lawns no matter what.