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What do "small," "medium" and "large" numbers mean?
They refer to how many insects were collected per meter square in a 30 second sample. Small means less than 2 insects; medium indicates 2 to 10 insects, and large suggests greater than 10 insects. |
home> native plant fact sheets> wild germanium
Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum L.
Group: Dicot
Family: Geraniaceae (geranium)
Growth Habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
U.S. Nativity: Native
Natural Enemies Attracted: Small numbers of Chalcidoidea, Salticidae, and Cynipoidea.
Pests Attracted: Small numbers of thrips, lygus bugs, froghoppers, leafhoppers and aphids.
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Bees attracted: None collected using the vacuum sampling method, but low numbers (less than 1 bee per meter square during 5 minute visual observations) of bees were observed.
Species Notes: Attractive pale pink to lavender flowers bloom on this plant that grows 1-2 ft tall. This plant bloomed from mid-May through early June. Attractive maple-leaf like foliage dies back after bloom, but some remains green through the summer. This species was the third least attractive to natural enemies in the early season. |
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| 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). Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) 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. |
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Habitat: Horticultural tolerance includes full sun to partial shade, and mid-range soil moisture (neither very wet nor very dry). Naturally occurring in rich deciduous woods, including moist sites such as pond borders, streamsides, and swamp forests. Usually grows in rich deciduous forests.
Cultivation and Management: Flowers from seed in second or third year. Also can be grown from plug material (flowers in first or second year). This plant is showy and long-lived.
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 |
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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. |
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