The American bumblebee is a large, long-tongued bumblebee that nests at or near ground level in tall grass, with annual colonies that fly roughly May through September and forage as broad generalists across grasslands, fields, and open habitats. Queens, workers, and males gather nectar and pollen from many plant families, with documented use favoring sunflowers, clovers, goldenrods, and boneset. Once the most commonly recorded bumblebee in the United States, it has declined roughly 89 percent in relative abundance, so a diverse, season-long succession of native bloom directly supports a species now in serious decline.

Small seed-eating songbird that feeds heavily on composite-flower seeds in late summer and fall — especially Echinacea, Rudbeckia, sunflower, and aster seeds. Goldfinch is the canonical reason NC State Extension's standing advice for these plants is 'leave seed heads standing through winter.'

Abundant, widespread thrush that splits its diet seasonally: earthworms, insects, and other invertebrates dominate in spring and summer, while soft fruits become the primary food in late summer, fall, and winter. Robins consume a wide range of native fruits including chokecherry, hawthorn, dogwood, serviceberry, and mulberry, and they disperse seeds across the landscape as they move in winter flocks. The species nests in an open cup, typically on a horizontal tree or shrub limb, so fruiting trees and shrubs serve as both food and nest structure in a garden.

Migratory songbird of open deciduous woods and edges whose summer diet is dominated by insects, especially caterpillars (including hairy and tent-forming species many birds avoid), making it a meaningful predator of leaf-eating larvae in the garden. It supplements that protein with soft fruit and visits flowers and sugar-water for nectar, so fruit-bearing native trees and shrubs such as mulberry and cherry draw it in. It weaves a distinctive hanging pouch nest near the drooping tips of tall deciduous trees.

Eastern North American swallowtail whose larvae feed exclusively on plants in the carrot family (Apiaceae) — parsley, dill, fennel, carrot foliage, and native rue-anemone — plus a handful of Rutaceae. The "parsley worm" is the canonical garden-discovery moment introducing people to specialist host-plant ecology: a single small herb planting can host a multi-year resident population. Adult females are darker than males and mimic the toxic pipevine swallowtail; both sexes nectar on a wide range of native and ornamental flowers.

Small, year-round resident songbird of northern North America and a familiar feeder visitor. It is an insectivore through the breeding season — parents feed nestlings almost entirely on caterpillars and other arthropods gleaned from foliage and bark, which is why the keystone native trees that host the most caterpillars (oaks, cherries, willows, and aspens/cottonwoods) directly determine how many chickadees a landscape can raise. In fall and winter it shifts to roughly half plant matter (seeds and small fruits) and caches food in bark crevices for later retrieval. A cavity nester, it excavates or enlarges holes in soft, rotted snags and readily uses nest boxes.

North America's largest native moth (Saturniidae), with a wingspan of five to seven inches. Caterpillars are broad feeders on the foliage of native deciduous trees and shrubs — documented hosts include maple (Acer), cherry and plum (Prunus), birch (Betula), apple (Malus), willow (Salix), and many others across more than twenty plant families. Adults lack functional mouthparts and a digestive system, so they do not feed and live only about one to two weeks, devoting that time entirely to reproduction. The large caterpillars and pupae are also a substantial food source for breeding songbirds.

Sleek crested songbird that travels in flocks and feeds heavily on small fruits. Serviceberry, blueberry, and winterberry are all important late-spring through winter food sources; the bird is famous among gardeners as the species that strips a serviceberry tree clean in one afternoon visit.

Large lemon-yellow butterfly whose larvae feed on legumes in the genera Senna, Cassia, and Chamaecrista (Fabaceae); the caterpillars sequester compounds from these hosts as a chemical defense. Adults have an exceptionally long proboscis and favor deep, often red or pink tubular flowers that shorter-tongued visitors cannot reach. A strong flier, the species mounts large seasonal emigrations northward each summer and retreats south to overwinter, making it a familiar late-season garden visitor well beyond its core breeding range.

The common buckeye is a brush-footed butterfly recognized by the large eyespots on its upper wings. Caterpillars feed on plants containing iridoid glycosides — the plantain family (Plantaginaceae, including Plantago, Penstemon, and Antirrhinum snapdragons), the vervain family (Verbenaceae, Verbena), and the acanthus family (Acanthaceae) — and sequester these compounds as a chemical defense. Adults nectar broadly on late-season composites such as asters and goldenrods, and northern populations are seasonally migratory because they cannot overwinter in hard-freeze regions.

The most abundant native bumblebee across eastern North America and the workhorse pollinator for many native perennials. One of the few bumblebees that performs buzz pollination at scale — essential for blueberry, tomato, and other vibration-pollinated crops.

The most familiar and widespread firefly across eastern North America, recognizable from the male's rising J-shaped flight and single yellow flash at dusk. Larvae are nocturnal predators that live for one to two years in moist soil and leaf litter, hunting soft-bodied invertebrates such as snails, slugs, and earthworms before pupating. Because every life stage depends on consistent soil moisture and undisturbed ground cover, the species responds directly to garden practices that retain leaf litter and native groundcover rather than clearing and tidying.

The smallest woodpecker in North America and a year-round resident of woodlands, parks, and backyards. It forages acrobatically over trunks, limbs, and small twigs of deciduous trees, gleaning and hammering for beetle larvae, ants, caterpillars, and other bark and wood insects. Both sexes excavate nest cavities in dead limbs and standing snags, often in fungus-softened wood, which makes retaining dead wood a direct habitat action. In winter it shifts to more tapping and excavating, working weed and seedhead stems such as goldenrod to extract gall-fly larvae and supplementing its diet with seeds and berries.

Small open-country thrush whose diet is roughly two-thirds insects and other invertebrates — grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, beetles, and spiders taken from short or sparse ground cover — with the remainder made up of wild fruits and berries, especially in fall and winter. Fruit shrubs such as serviceberry, chokecherry, and elderberry, along with sumac, dogwood, and hackberry, carry the bird through the cold months when insects are scarce. A secondary cavity nester, it relies on old woodpecker holes, natural tree cavities, and artificial nest boxes; its mid-20th-century decline reversed largely through volunteer nest-box trails.

Large solitary bee that nests in dead wood (including, sometimes, deck timbers). Important pollinator for tubular flowers; occasionally engages in nectar-robbing on long-spurred flowers like wild columbine, slicing the spur from the side rather than entering the flower legitimately.

Common anglewing butterfly of eastern North America whose ragged-edged wings and silvery comma-shaped hindwing mark make it cryptic against bark when perched. Larvae feed on plants in the hemp and elm families and on nettles — most often hops (Humulus lupulus) and nettle (Urtica, Boehmeria, Laportea), with American elm (Ulmus), basswood (Tilia), and occasionally hackberry (Celtis) also recorded. Adults rarely visit flowers, instead feeding on tree sap, rotting fruit, and dung; winter-form adults hibernate as adults and are among the first butterflies seen on warm late-winter days. The hops association earned it the old common name 'hop merchant.'

Tree squirrel of eastern North American hardwood forests that feeds on the nuts and mast of oaks, hickories, walnut, pecan, and beech. It scatter-hoards surplus nuts in shallow single-seed caches each autumn and recovers them by memory and smell; the substantial fraction never recovered germinates, making the squirrel an effective disperser that aids regeneration of oak and other heavy-seeded trees. It nests in tree cavities and builds leaf-and-twig dreys high in the canopy, so mature nut-bearing trees supply both its food and its shelter.

The eastern phoebe is an early-arriving insectivorous flycatcher that hunts by "sallying" — watching from a low, exposed perch and flying out to seize flying insects, then returning to perch. It favors woodland edges and streamsides, where trees and shrubs supply the low perches and structural cover it uses. In fall and winter, when flying insects are scarce, it supplements its diet with small fruits and berries. It does not eat plant foliage; the plants it depends on provide perch structure and cover.

Functional-group entry for the broad set of songbirds (chickadees, sparrows, finches, juncos, native warblers) that feed on native-plant seeds and use plant structure for shelter, nesting material, and overwintering cover. Standing seedheads, dense grass clumps, and stem-cavity habitat all support multiple species simultaneously.

Small gossamer-winged butterfly (Lycaenidae) whose larvae feed on the flowers, seeds, and young foliage of legumes (Fabaceae) — documented hosts include clovers (Trifolium), vetches (Vicia), lupines (Lupinus), wild peas (Lathyrus), and wild sennas (Senna). The caterpillars are tended by ants, which feed on a secretion the larvae produce and in return defend them from predators. Adults have short proboscises and nectar at low, open, easily accessed flowers, making this one of the most common and approachable butterflies of sunny gardens, meadows, and disturbed ground across eastern North America.

Large yellow-and-black butterfly common across eastern North America. Adults nectar on a wide variety of native perennials including coneflower, bee balm, garden phlox, and butterfly weed; larvae feed on tulip tree, wild cherry, and other native trees.

The introduced honeybee — managed across North America and naturalized in many regions. Generalist pollinator that visits a wide range of plants but is less effective than native bees at buzz pollination and at pollinating some native flowers shaped for specific native visitors.

The largest butterfly in North America, with a wingspan reaching roughly 4 to 6 inches. Larvae are specialists on the citrus family (Rutaceae), feeding on native prickly ash (Zanthoxylum), common hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata), and cultivated citrus such as lemon and orange — where the caterpillar is known to growers as the "orangedog." The larva mimics a fresh bird dropping for defense, and adults nectar on a range of flowers including goldenrod, swamp milkweed, and lantana.

The most common large fritillary across eastern North America, an orange-and-black butterfly of moist meadows and woodland edges whose larvae feed exclusively on violets (Viola spp.). It produces one generation a year with a distinctive life cycle: females lay eggs singly on or near violets in late summer, the caterpillars hatch but overwinter without feeding, then feed on the freshly emerging violet foliage in spring. Adults are generalist nectar feeders on a wide range of native and garden flowers, making violets the limiting habitat resource for supporting a breeding population.

Family-level entry for the delicate green-winged insects whose larvae — the "aphid lions" — are voracious generalist predators of aphids, mites, thrips, whiteflies, scales, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied pests, making them one of the most important native biological-control insects in the vegetable and perennial garden. The adults are crepuscular or nocturnal and feed largely on nectar, pollen, and aphid honeydew, so they depend on flowering insectary plants for the carbohydrate and protein that fuel egg-laying; a few genera (notably Chrysopa) keep predatory adults. Because the larvae hunt the same aphids the adults rely on for honeydew, a planting that offers both umbel and composite flowers and a tolerated aphid population sustains a resident, reproducing population rather than a one-time visit.

The Gulf fritillary is a bright orange brush-footed butterfly of the southern United States. Its caterpillars are obligate specialists on passionflowers (Passiflora), feeding on the leaves and other plant parts; the silver-spotted adults nectar at a range of flowers. Gardeners who want to host its larvae must grow a Passiflora species, as no other plant family supports its caterpillars.

Large fast-flying moths that pollinate tubular night-blooming flowers via their long proboscises. Garden phlox and fragrant plantain-lily (Hosta plantaginea) are among the catalog plants pollinated by hawkmoths in the evening hours; the relationship explains why these plants release fragrance after dusk.

Family-level entry for the wasp- and bee-mimicking flies that are among the most frequent flower visitors in North American gardens and, after wild bees, often considered the second-most important group of pollinators. Adults feed on nectar and pollen and favor shallow, accessible flowers — flat-topped Apiaceae umbels (golden-alexanders, fennel, dill) and open composite Asteraceae blooms — that their short mouthparts can reach. The larvae of roughly 40 percent of species are predators of aphids and other soft-bodied insects, with a single larva consuming up to several hundred aphids over its two-to-three-week development, making them important natural pest control alongside their pollination role.

The hummingbird clearwing is a day-flying sphinx moth whose adults hover at flowers and feed through a long proboscis, mimicking a hummingbird; the wings carry clear, scale-free patches. Females lay eggs on woody hosts in the honeysuckle, viburnum, hawthorn, and cherry/plum groups, and the green larvae feed on the foliage before pupating in a cocoon at the soil surface. Gardeners who grow both larval host shrubs and deep tubular nectar flowers can support the moth's full life cycle.

Native sphinx moth whose larvae feed on Hydrangea arborescens and other native hydrangea species. The smooth-hydrangea-as-host-plant relationship is the wedge-relevant fact about hydrangea that the standard "blue versus pink mophead" landscape framing misses entirely.

Large yellow-and-purple silk moth (Saturniidae) whose larvae feed on Acer (maple), Quercus (oak), Pinus, Sassafras, and a wide range of other deciduous and evergreen woody plants. Caterpillars can reach 4 inches and feed solitary at the canopy edge. The adult moth's wingspan is 3-7 inches; adults do not feed. Populations have declined meaningfully across the eastern United States due to a combination of light pollution (disrupts mating), habitat fragmentation, and parasitoid pressure from introduced tachinid flies.

The Io moth is a giant silk moth (family Saturniidae) whose adults bear large dark hindwing eyespots used in a defensive startle display. Its larvae are highly polyphagous, feeding on the foliage of dozens of woody and herbaceous plants across many genera. Handle the caterpillars with care: the bright green larvae are covered in branched urticating spines that deliver a painful sting on contact. Adults do not feed and live only to mate, so the species' garden impact is entirely the leaf-feeding larval stage.

Small blue butterfly of oak savannas and pine barrens whose larvae feed exclusively on wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) — the only plant the caterpillars can eat. Two broods are produced each year, both tied to lupine bloom and regrowth, and the larvae are tended by ants in a facultative mutualism. Adults nectar on a range of open-habitat wildflowers, but the obligate dependence on wild lupine makes the butterfly a textbook case for why a single native host plant can be load-bearing for an entire species.

Family-level entry for the lady beetles (ladybugs), whose adults and larvae are predators of aphids, scale insects, and other soft-bodied pests on garden and crop plants. Both life stages consume aphids in large numbers, making the family one of the most recognized beneficial-insect groups for aphid-prone plantings. Many species overwinter as adults in leaf litter, under bark, beneath stones, and inside hollow plant stems, often clustering in aggregations, so leaving leaf litter and standing dead stems through winter provides shelter habitat.

Genus-level entry for the solitary leafcutter bees, named for the way females snip smooth semicircular pieces from leaves and petals to line and seal their brood cells. They are cavity nesters, using hollow stems, beetle borings in dead wood, and similar pencil-sized tunnels, which makes them ready users of stem habitat and bee hotels. As largely polylectic (generalist) foragers, they carry pollen on a dense brush of hairs on the underside of the abdomen rather than on the legs, and are productive pollinators of summer legumes and composites in the garden. The neat crescent notches they leave on rose, redbud, ash, and lilac leaves are cosmetic damage to the plant, not a health problem.

Genus-level entry for the solitary, ground-nesting long-horned bees, named for the strikingly long antennae of males. Females forage heavily on the sunflower family (Asteraceae) — many species are oligolectic specialists on composites such as sunflowers, asters, and coneflowers — making them important late-season pollinators of native Asteraceae and of sunflower-family crops. They are most active in late summer and fall, when composite blooms peak; males famously roost overnight by gripping flower stems with their jaws.

Large pale-green giant silk moth (Saturniidae) with long curved hindwing tails and a wingspan of roughly 8-11 cm. Larvae are broadleaf-tree feeders whose primary hosts include hickory and walnut (Juglandaceae), paper birch, sweetgum, and American persimmon, with regional preference shifting from birch in the north to persimmon and sweetgum in the south. Adults have vestigial mouthparts, do not feed, and live only about a week, so the moth's entire dependence on the garden is through its caterpillars and the native host trees they require.

Genus-level entry for the solitary mason bees, named for the mud or clay partitions females use to wall off the cells of their nests. Roughly 140 Osmia species occur in North America, including the native blue orchard bee (Osmia lignaria) and the blueberry bee (Osmia ribifloris). They are cavity nesters that do not excavate their own holes — instead occupying beetle burrows, hollow stems, and gaps in wood, and readily adopting drilled blocks and reed or paper tubes. Active in early spring, mason bees are highly efficient pollinators of Rosaceae fruit trees (apple, pear, cherry, plum, almond, peach) because they carry dry pollen on the underside of the abdomen and forage in cool, overcast weather when honeybees stay in the hive.

Native moth whose hairy black-orange-white larvae feed on milkweed alongside monarch caterpillars. Less well-known than the monarch but equally dependent on Asclepias; the larvae's caterpillar-tussock appearance often startles gardeners who recognize monarchs but not tussock moths.

Genus-level entry for the solitary, ground-nesting mining bees — one of the largest bee genera in North America, with several hundred species on the continent. They are among the earliest bees to emerge in spring, often flying while temperatures are still cold, which makes them key pollinators of early-blooming willows, maples, and fruit trees (apple, cherry, plum, pear) before most other bees are active. Females excavate underground nest tunnels in well-drained soil, frequently in dense aggregations, and provision each cell with pollen and nectar. Many Andrena are generalists, but the genus includes pollen specialists such as the spring beauty miner (Andrena erigeniae), which collects pollen only from Claytonia virginica.

Iconic migratory butterfly whose larvae feed exclusively on milkweeds (Asclepias spp.). The 90% population decline in the eastern migratory population since the 1990s is one of the most-cited insect-conservation crises in North America; milkweed habitat loss is the central driver.

Large dark-maroon butterfly with cream wing margins whose gregarious larvae feed in communal silken nests on the foliage of deciduous trees — willows, elms, hackberry, cottonwoods and aspen, birch, and mulberry. Unusual among North American butterflies, the adult overwinters by hibernating in bark crevices and under loose bark, so it is often the first butterfly seen on warm late-winter and early-spring days. Adults rarely visit flowers; they feed instead on tree sap, fallen and rotting fruit, and aphid honeydew, which makes mature host trees and brushy edges more important to this species than a nectar border.

The painted lady is a cosmopolitan, highly migratory brush-footed butterfly and one of the most polyphagous butterflies known, with caterpillars recorded on over 100 plant species. Larvae feed chiefly on thistles and other Asteraceae, mallows (Malvaceae) including hollyhock, and members of the borage family (Boraginaceae), building silk nests on the host foliage. Adults are broad nectar generalists that readily visit composites, milkweeds, and many garden flowers.

The pearl crescent is a small orange-and-black brushfoot whose caterpillars feed almost exclusively on the foliage of native asters (Asteraceae), mainly Symphyotrichum species. Females lay eggs in clusters on the undersides of aster leaves, and the species produces multiple broods per year, so larvae can be present through much of the growing season. Adults are generalist nectar feeders on low composites and other open flowers.

Large tan giant silk moth (Saturniidae) named for the single large eyespot on each hindwing, with a wingspan of roughly 10-15 cm. The caterpillar is a broad generalist that feeds on the foliage of many native deciduous trees and shrubs, with oaks (Quercus), birches (Betula), willows (Salix), and maples (Acer) among its most-used hosts. Adults have vestigial, non-functional mouthparts and do not feed, living only about a week to mate and lay eggs, so the species depends entirely on larval host trees rather than nectar sources. Because the host range is so wide, a yard with native canopy and shrub layers can support local populations.

Fast, dark butterfly with orange bands and white forewing spots, found across North America and one of the most familiar garden butterflies. Larvae feed on plants in the nettle family (Urticaceae), chiefly stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica). Adults are nectar generalists on many forbs but also feed heavily on tree sap, fermenting fruit, and dung, so they are not strictly flower-dependent.

Iridescent blue-black brushfoot butterfly of eastern North American woodlands and a Batesian mimic of the distasteful pipevine swallowtail, which gives it protection from predators despite being edible itself. Larvae feed on the foliage of woody plants, with black cherry (Prunus serotina) among the most-used hosts; willows (Salix), aspens and cottonwoods (Populus), and deerberry are also documented hosts. Unlike most garden butterflies, adults rarely visit flowers, instead feeding at tree sap flows, rotting fruit, and dung — so supporting this species is about larval host trees rather than nectar plantings.

The only hummingbird species breeding in eastern North America. Long bills and tongues let it reach nectar in tubular flowers (wild columbine, bee balm, garden phlox, trumpet vine) that exclude shorter-tongued pollinators. The plant–hummingbird coevolution is so specific that several eastern native flowers can be functionally read as "hummingbird flowers."

A generalist bumble bee of the eastern and upper-midwestern United States, named for the rust-colored patch on the abdomen of workers and males. Like other bumble bees it performs buzz pollination, grabbing a flower's anthers and vibrating its flight muscles to release pollen that other pollinators cannot reach. As a short-tongued generalist it forages a broad sequence of native perennials across the colony's spring-through-fall flight, with documented Midwestern records concentrated on genera including Monarda, Agastache, Pycnanthemum, Eutrochium, Veronicastrum, and Solidago. Colonies nest underground, typically in abandoned rodent burrows.

Small orange-and-black checkerspot whose larvae feed on Echinacea, Rudbeckia, and other native composites in the Asteraceae family. NC State Plant Toolbox's tags reference this species as one of the butterfly larvae supported by purple coneflower.

Family of small fast-flying butterflies whose larvae feed almost exclusively on grasses. Little bluestem and switchgrass are among the native warm-season grasses that host multiple skipper species; planting these grasses is the single most effective way to support skipper populations.

Black swallowtail with iridescent blue or blue-green hindwings; larvae are specialists on plants in the laurel family (Lauraceae), primarily spicebush (Lindera benzoin) and sassafras (Sassafras albidum). The caterpillar mimics a small snake when threatened — folding the front of its body and displaying large false eyespots — which is one of the most striking caterpillar defenses in eastern North American forests.

Small early-season blue butterfly (Lycaenidae) among the first to appear in spring across much of North America. Unusually for a butterfly, the larvae feed on flower buds, blossoms, and developing fruits rather than leaves, drawing them to shrubs and small trees including dogwood (Cornus), viburnum (Viburnum), New Jersey tea and other Ceanothus, blueberry (Vaccinium), and meadowsweet (Spiraea). Later-stage caterpillars are tended by ants, which harvest a sugary secretion from a gland on the larva in exchange for protection from parasitoid wasps and flies.

Solitary ground-nesting native bee that specializes on Cucurbita pollen (squash, pumpkin, gourd) — the canonical wedge-relevant pollinator for the cucurbit vegetable garden. Active at dawn before honeybees + bumblebees, the squash bee delivers most cucurbit pollination across North America. Males sleep inside closed squash flowers; females forage Cucurbita pollen exclusively during the species's short summer flight window. Lifecycle is synchronized with cucurbit bloom — adults emerge in midsummer when squash flowers open and die within weeks.

Functional-group entry for the native solitary bees that nest in hollow plant stems through winter. The reason NC State Extension's standing advice for Echinacea, Rudbeckia, and many other native perennials is to cut dead stems to 12-24 inches and leave them standing rather than clearing flush to the ground.

Genus-level entry covering the small to tiny solitary sweat bees that visit composite flowers, herbs, and many native perennials. Underappreciated pollinators — what most people think of as 'tiny black bees' on flowers are often Lasioglossum species.

Orange-and-black brushfoot butterfly whose larvae feed on trees in the willow family (Salicaceae) — willows (Salix) plus poplars, aspens, and cottonwoods (Populus). Caterpillars sequester salicylic-acid compounds from these hosts, which makes the adults distasteful to birds; the viceroy and the monarch are now understood as Müllerian co-mimics, two unpalatable species that share a warning pattern and reinforce each other's protection rather than the long-taught one-way Batesian story. Larvae overwinter as third-instar caterpillars inside a rolled-leaf hibernaculum anchored to a host twig, so leaving willow and poplar leaf litter and standing stems undisturbed through winter directly protects the next generation.

The most widespread native deer in North America and the dominant large herbivore shaping garden and forest plant communities east of the Rocky Mountains. As selective browsers, white-tailed deer eat the youngest, most tender new leaves and stem tips first, and rely heavily on acorns and other hard mast through autumn and early winter. At the high densities common in much of their range today, sustained browsing suppresses forest understory regeneration and is the central reason deer resistance and browse pressure are recurring design considerations for the woody plants in this catalog.

Distinctive black-and-white-striped swallowtail with long tails and a red abdominal stripe; larvae are specialists on plants in the genus Asimina (pawpaws). Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is the canonical and overwhelmingly primary host across the species's range; without pawpaw colonies the butterfly cannot reproduce. Adults nectar on a variety of native flowers (redbud, milkweed, blackberry blossom, dogbane). One of the most striking native butterflies in eastern North America and a textbook host-plant-specialist conservation case.