34 Nebraskaland • July 2026
Nightshade gang
Black nightshade showed up in my plot in 2024 but
hadn't been there in 2018. I'm guessing it appeared in 2024
because the prescribed fire allowed light to hit the ground
and stimulate germination of this annual species. I was
happy to see it, partly because nightshade and its relatives
have flowers that rely on "buzz pollination." When bees
hang below the flowers and vibrate their wing muscles
at the right resonance, the anthers release their pollen
to shower onto the bee. I've never photographed that
phenomenon and figured it would be pretty neat to capture
it within my little prairie square.
Before I saw any bees visit the plant's flowers, however,
a gang of blister beetles arrived in the plot and completely
decimated the nightshade plant. Over the course of a couple
of hours, they methodically ate every one of the leaves and
flowers, leaving only sad-looking stems. It felt like they
were staring at me while doing it, too, daring me to try and
prevent them. When they left, the plant appeared doomed
and it looked like my chance to photograph buzz pollination
wasn't going to come. Oh well, I had enjoyed watching the
gang do their work and didn't hold it against them.
The story doesn't end there, though. Annual plants only
get one chance at life, so they are hard to kill. This one was
no exception, and those sad stems started producing new
leaves within a week, followed eventually by flowers and
fruits. The production of fruits meant the flowers must
have been pollinated, but unfortunately, I was never there
at the right time to see or photograph that process. That's
not the blister beetles' fault, I guess, but remembering the
way they stared me down, I blamed them a little bit anyway.
Black nightshade flowers before the gang arrived.
An upside-down blister beetle chews away on a leaf tip.
Blister beetles demolish a nightshade leaf.
The aftermath of the gang's appearance.
