How a Honeysuckle Bush Helps the Ecosystem

Honeysuckle flowers provide nectar for pollinating insects.

A honeysuckle bush can be an asset to an ecosystem. Honeysuckle bushes provide food and shelter for a variety of insects, birds and mammals. They are also an attractive addition to a wildlife garden with their highly scented, prolific flowers.

Habitat

Honeysuckle bushes provide a dense shelter and nest building material for small mammals and birds such as thrushes.

Nectar

Among the animals attracted to honeysuckle are hummingbirds. Honeysuckle bushes also attract long-tongued butterflies, bees and moths, including western tiger swallowtail butterflies.

Leaves

Several kinds of butterfly and moth caterpillars feed on honeysuckle leaves, including those of the odd-looking hummingbird clearwing moth.

Considerations

Some species of honeysuckle cause problems outside their original countries, including the Japanese honeysuckle or Lonicera japonica, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture classes as an invasive species in North America. Choose a variety of honeysuckle native to your region.

References

• Oregon State University: Create a Butterfly Garden
• U.S. Department of Agriculture: Species Profiles -- Japanese Honeysuckle
• Butterflies and Moths of North America: Hummingbird Clearwing
• Native Plant Database: Lonicera Ciliosa
• U.S. National Parks Service: Acadia Nature Notes