Great Garden Speakers

Native Predatory Wasps: Their Role as Pollinators and Beneficial Insects

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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. Heather 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 Holm

About Heather Holm

I am a a biologist, pollinator conservationist, and award-winning author. I passionately inform and educate audiences nationwide, through my writing and many presentations, about the fascinating world of native pollinators and beneficial insects, and the native plant communities that support them.

I am the author of four books: Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees (2017), Wasps (2021), and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States (2022). Both Bees and Wasps have won multiple book awards including the American Horticultural Society Book Award (2018 and 2022 respectively). My expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps. My work has been featured in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and many local publications. I am also an accomplished photographer and my pollinator photos are frequently featured in print and electronic publications.