Pollinators.
New Jersey is home to 400+ species of native bees, 100+ butterflies, hundreds of moths, and a small army of hover flies, wasps, and beetles — plus the only native breeding hummingbird in the eastern US. Meet the animals that keep the whole system running.
Bees.
The most important pollinators in the state — around 400 native species and one non-native import (the honey bee). Bees actively collect pollen to feed their young, making them far more effective than any other flower visitor.
- BsBeeNative · NJ
Bumble Bees
Bombus spp.
Big, fuzzy, striped, social bees — the ones everyone recognizes. Bumble bees are the most efficient pollinators in New Jersey and the only bees here t…
- AsBeeNative · NJ
Mining Bees
Andrena spp.
The first bees on the wing each year. Mining bees are solitary ground-nesters that emerge in March and April — often while the ground is still cold —…
- OsBeeNative · NJ
Mason Bees
Osmia spp.
Small metallic blue-black solitary bees that pollinate spring fruit trees more efficiently than any other insect on the continent. One female mason be…
- H&BeeNative · NJ
Sweat Bees
Halictus & Lasioglossum spp.
The smallest native bees in New Jersey — often under half an inch — and among the most abundant. Named for their attraction to human perspiration (a s…
- PpBeeNative · NJ
Squash Bee
Peponapis pruinosa
A specialist bee that exists because you grow zucchini. Squash bees pollinate squash, pumpkins, gourds, and cucumbers — often more effectively than ho…
- AmBeeNon-native
European Honey Bee
Apis mellifera
The bee everyone knows — and the one that gets most of the credit for pollination while the natives do most of the work. Non-native to North America.…
- MsBeeNon-native
Giant Resin Bee
Megachile sculpturalis
The largest leafcutter bee in North America — up to an inch long — and one of the first Asian bees to naturalize widely in the eastern US. Currently c…
- XvBeeNative · NJ
Eastern Carpenter Bee
Xylocopa virginica
The big shiny-butt bee that looks like a bumble bee from the front and a beetle from behind. Solitary, native, and gentle — males have no stinger and…
- MsBeeNative · NJ
Leafcutter Bees
Megachile spp.
The bee behind the perfect circles cut out of your rose leaves. Leafcutters snip neat oval pieces from soft leaves and use them to construct cigar-sha…
Butterflies.
Incidental pollinators — they visit for nectar, not pollen — but essential to plant diversity and cultural icons of a healthy garden. New Jersey hosts more than 100 native butterfly species.
- DpButterflyNative · NJ
Monarch Butterfly
Danaus plexippus
The one everybody knows. Bright orange with black veins and white-spotted black borders. New Jersey sits on the fall migration corridor — the last gen…
- PgButterflyNative · NJ
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Papilio glaucus
New Jersey's state butterfly. Big — up to 5.5 inches — and unmistakable, with yellow wings striped like a tiger. The female comes in two morphs: a yel…
- PpButterflyNative · NJ
Black Swallowtail
Papilio polyxenes
The reason your dill and fennel disappear every August. Larvae are the striking green-and-black striped caterpillars with orange spots that any garden…
- PtButterflyNative · NJ
Spicebush Swallowtail
Papilio troilus
The dark swallowtail with the blue-green sheen on its hind wings. Adults are unmistakable, but the caterpillars are the real show — they fold spicebus…
- ScButterflyNative · NJ
Great Spangled Fritillary
Speyeria cybele
A large orange butterfly with silver spangles on the underside of its hind wings — hence the name. Common at midsummer nectar plants, especially milkw…
- NaButterflyNative · NJ
Mourning Cloak
Nymphalis antiopa
The butterfly you might see flying on a warm February afternoon over the snow — nothing else looks like it. Deep burgundy-brown wings with a pale crea…
- HButterflyNative · NJ
Skippers
Hesperiidae
Small, compact, fast-flying — often overlooked because they're small, brown-orange, and dart between flowers so quickly they barely register. New Jers…
- CsButterflyNative · NJ
Azure Butterflies
Celastrina spp.
Tiny sky-blue butterflies that appear in April like a hallucination — flashes of pale blue no larger than a fingernail, gone before you can focus. Spr…
Moths.
The forgotten pollinators. Most are nocturnal and pollinate flowers that bees never see. A few, like the Hummingbird Clearwing, fly by day and get mistaken for something else entirely.
- HtMothNative · NJ
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth
Hemaris thysbe
The day-flying moth that gets mistaken for a hummingbird. Fuzzy olive-and-burgundy body, transparent wings the size of a hummingbird's, and it hovers…
- AlMothNative · NJ
Luna Moth
Actias luna
The pale green giant. Wingspan the size of a coffee mug, wings shaped like something a botanist drew for a spring calendar. Adults live only about a w…
- HcMothNative · NJ
Cecropia Moth
Hyalophora cecropia
The largest native moth in North America — a wingspan up to six inches, warm chestnut-brown wings with cream crescents and a rose-red base. Adults don…
- HlMothNative · NJ
White-lined Sphinx Moth
Hyles lineata
The dusk hummingbird. A powerful, fast-flying sphinx moth that hovers at flowers at twilight and after dark, extending a proboscis longer than its bod…
Birds.
In eastern North America, one bird pollinates: the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Nineteen native plant species have coevolved specifically with its beak, its vision, and its migration schedule.
Wasps.
Mostly incidental at flowers, but a few (Great Golden Digger, Great Black Wasp) are heavy flower visitors on native umbels and mints — and every one of them is a beneficial predator of garden pests.
- SiNative · NJ
Great Golden Digger Wasp
Sphex ichneumoneus
A large, striking orange-and-black solitary wasp that looks alarming and is completely harmless to humans. Female visits flowers heavily for nectar, h…
- SpNative · NJ
Great Black Wasp
Sphex pensylvanicus
Entirely, dramatically black — body, legs, wings — with an iridescent blue sheen if the light catches it right. Large (up to 1.4 inches), solitary, an…
- SdNative · NJ
Blue-winged Scoliid Wasp
Scolia dubia
A large striking wasp with black wings that flash iridescent blue in sunlight. It exists to eat Japanese beetle grubs — female wasps burrow into the g…
Flies.
The second most important pollinator group after bees — and the most overlooked. Includes the hover flies, whose larvae eat garden pests.
Beetles.
Among the first pollinators to evolve with flowering plants. Still essential for magnolias, pawpaws, water lilies, and tulip trees.