A while ago I happened across a cultivated (native Australian) tree planted on the nature strip that appeared to have been aggressively pruned so it didn’t hit the telegraph wires. It was a Melaleuca quinquenervia and it had just come into flower. There were critters flying all over it, and I counted more than 80 different species on it over several days (I’d say there were likely many more species on there, but it was so hard to photograph everything because I had that fantastic problem of there being too much happening at once to be able to capture everything on camera). It was such a joy to spend time observing all of the species on this tree.
Has anyone else had the experience of a plant laden with insects and many different species? Do you get as excited as I do? It was such a wonderful high for days and days, and amongst the amazing range of miniature biodiversity I found a large number of new (to me) species.
I would love to hear of any such amazing experiences from fellow iNatters.
I’ve never seen so many on a single plant. I’d be over the moon to have that experience! For me, the greatest joy in observing the natural world is catching interactions. None of these organisms (even cultivated/captive) are in the Museum of Separate Individuals. They’re all part of the web of life. So cool.
I could spend days sitting in front of a tree like that, just watching animals come and go.
Where I live the plants where I noticed the greatest pollinator density and diversity are Eryngium amethystinum and Vitex agnus-castus, especially on bright summer mornings. When I find one of these plants during a hike it’s guaranteed that something interesting will be on their flowers.