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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> dill

Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
Dill
Anethum graveolens L.

Group: Dicot
Family: Apiaceae (carrot)
Growth Habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Annual
U.S. Nativity: Introduced

Natural Enemies Attracted: Medium numbers of Chalcidoidea. Small numbers of Plagiognathus politus, Coccinellidae, Cantharidae, Chlamydatus associatus, Chrysopidae and Sphecidae.

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

Bees attracted: Low numbers (less than 1 bee per meter square in a 30 second sample) of bees including sweat bees and small carpenter bees.
 
Species Notes: This annual herb has been previously recommended to provide nectar and pollen to natural enemies. Plants grew to 4 ft tall and put out flat, airy yellow flower heads to form a fragrant blanket at the top of long stalks. This species bloomed from mid-August to mid-September.This plant was the second least attractive to natural enemies of the late season plants, with similar numbers of natural enemies as in 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). Dill (Anethum graveolens) 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: Native to the southwestern Asia, is naturalized in many parts of the northern US and Europe. Dill does best in full sun, with well drained soil and adequate water. It may bolt quickly to flower during a prolonged dry spell.

Cultivation and Management: Fast growing and easy to cultivate; easily grown from seed. In hot weather it flowers and goes to seed quickly. Sow dill seeds where they will be grown about the time of the last expected frost. Dill frequently self sows, so is likely to persist in a location where it is seeded. We saw no evidence of deer or other vertebrate browsing on this species, but in 2005, swallowtail caterpillars did eat quite few seedlings when they were about 6 inches tall.

Availability: Species is available as seed through some seed catalogs.

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