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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.

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Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
Leadplant
 Amorpha canescens Pursh

Group: Monocot
Family: Fabaceae (legume)
Growth Habit: Subshrub/shrub
Duration: Perennial
U.S. Nativity: Native, most of central U.S.

Natural Enemies Attracted: Small numbers of Nabidae and Orius insidiosus

Pests Attracted: Small numbers of leafhoppers, aphids, Japanese beetles and lygus bugs.

Species Notes: Flowers are small purple spikes. Plants are compact with small leaves, grow to about 1- 4 foot tall, and began to bloom in their third season of growth. Plants bloomed from late July through early August. This species was the least attractive to natural enemies in the mid season, with fewer natural enemies than in the grass control.

Bees attracted: Moderate numbers (between 1-5 bees per meter square in a 30 second sample) of bees including sweat bees, small carpenter bees, and bumble bees.
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). Leadplant (Amorpha canescens) 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: Includes full sun and very dry sites. Naturally occurring in sandy clearings and roadsides, hills, bluffs, and prairies.

Cultivation and Management: Plants are difficult to establish from seed, but may be grown from plug material (flowers in third year).

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