White Vervain

The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract long-tongued bees (honeybees, bumblebees, Little Carpenter bees, Cuckoo bees, Digger bees, & Large Leaf-Cutting bees), short-tongued bees (Halictid bees, & Dagger bees, including Calliopsis verbenae), various flies (Syrphid flies, Bee flies, Thick-Headed flies, & Tachinid flies), small butterflies, and wasps. These insects cross-pollinate the flowers. Insects that feed on the foliage and other parts of White Vervain and other Verbena spp. (Vervains) include the larvae of Crambodes talidiformis (Verbena Moth), Longitarsus suspectus (Flea Beetle sp.), larvae of Clinodiplosis verbenae (Vervain Leaf Midge), Macrosiphum verbenae (Verbena Aphid), and Melanoplus bivittatus (Two-striped Grasshopper). The seeds are eaten occasionally by various granivorous songbirds, including the Slate-Colored Junco, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, and White-Crowned Sparrow. In contrast, the bitter coarse foliage is rarely used as a food source by White-Tailed Deer and other mammalian herbivores.