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 What do "small," "medium" and "large" numbers of natural enemies mean?
They refer to how strongly each plant attracts natural enemies. Small numbers means less than 2 insects per square meter of plant material; medium numbers indicates 2 to 10 insects per square meter of plant material, and large numbers suggests greater than 10 insects per square meter of plant material.

home> native plant fact sheets> smooth aster

Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
Smooth aster
Symphyotrichum laeve (L.) A.& D. Löve var. laeve formerly Aster laevis L.
Group: Dicot
Family: Asteraceae (aster)
Growth Habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
U.S. Nativity: Native

Natural Enemies Attracted: Large numbers of Orius insidiousus, medium numbers of Chalcidoidea and small numbers of Nabidae Empididae, Salticidae, Ichneumonidae, Thomisidae, Coccinellidae and Braconidae.

Pests Attracted: Large numbers of lygus bugs. Small numbers of leafhoppers and leaf beetles.

Bees attracted: Moderate numbers (between 1-5 bees per meter square in a 30 second sample) of bees including sweat bees and bumble bees.

Species Notes: Pale violet flowers less than an inch across bloomed on plants that grew 2-4 ft tall. This species filled in fairly well in the second season of growth. Plants bloomed from mid September to early October. This was one of the less attractive late season plants to natural enemies in the late season, but attracted three times more natural enemies than the grass control.
About the Plant Species Graph: Average number of beneficial insects collected at each plant species the week before, during, and after peak bloom, for plant species blooming from mid-August through early October (+ standard error). Smooth aster (Aster laevis) boxed in red. Bars for natural enemies are in green, bars for bees are in yellow. Bars for native plants are solid and nonnative plants are striped. The black line on the top graph shows the number of natural enemies in grass with no flowering plants (grass control). Plants are listed in order of peak bloom. graph
Habitat: Full sun to partial shade, and dry to fairly wet locations. Naturally occurring in dry open thickets and woods, especially at clearings and borders, in fields and roadsides, prairies, meadows, and shores. This plant is rarely found in wet places such as fens.

Cultivation and Management: Can be grown from seed (flowers in second or third year) or plug material (flowers in first or second year). We saw no evidence of deer or other vertebrate browsing on this species. Smooth aster was the latest blooming plant species of the 43 natives we tested.

Availability: Species is available as seed, plug or container grown material from various native plant nurseries. Michigan Native Plant Producers Association.

For more information: USDA-NRCS PLANTS database.
This fact sheet prepared by: Doug Landis, Anna Fiedler, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University. Please note: The information presented at this web site should be considered a guideline to be adapted for your situation. MSU makes no warranty about the use of the information presented here. Read disclaimer.
Web site information prepared by: Doug Landis, Anna Fiedler, Rufus Isaacs and Julianna Tuell, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University. Funding support: USDA SARE with Project GREEEN, the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, MSU Extension, and the MSU IPM Program.
Web developer: J.N. Landis, MSU IPM Program. Updated: 11/21/06