Native Predatory Wasps: Their Role as Pollinators and Beneficial Insects

Native bees and predatory wasps share the same lineage and also share many behaviors and habitat requirements. Predatory wasps feed their offspring invertebrates (insects and spiders) and bees diverged from this carnivorous diet to feed their offspring plant-based food (pollen and nectar). Flower-rich landscapes provide critical habitat for both adult bees and wasps because they each consume flower nectar; in addition, wasps need diverse, flower-rich landscapes to hunt for their prey.

Speaker Heather Holm will highlight many amazing natural history and biology facts about native wasps illustrating their nesting habitat, prey specificity, and the ecosystems services they provide—pest insect population control and pollination.

Heather is a biologist, pollinator conservationist, and award-winning author. She passionately informs and educates audiences nationwide, through her writing and many presentations, about the fascinating world of native pollinators and beneficial insects, and the native plant communities that support them. The author of several popular and authoritative books, Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, among many other publications. Heather is also an accomplished photographer and her pollinator photos are frequently featured in print and electronic publications.

This presentation will be a free Webinar.  There is no registration required.  

Please consider supporting the future activities of the OHS though renewing your membership or joining for $15/yr, or though a donation.  

***A recording of the presentation will be available for members only for one week following the presentation

How to view the presentation

To join the presentation, please click on this You Tube link to go to the OHS You Tube Channel.   To simply watch the presentation there is nothing else you need to do.  The presentation will also be recorded and available at this link afterwards. The easiest way to find the channel is using the link; if you are on You Tube and do a search please use Ottawa Horticultural Society (we aren’t the only ones that use OHS as an acronym!)

Starting the video

Once you are on the site, you must click on the rectangle of the video to start watching.   Until 7:30 you will see a screen that says the presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m., so please be patient.