Pollinator Garden So Successful It Attracts Species Not Seen in Region Since the Cretaceous

A suburban pollinator garden in Boise, Idaho, has produced results so extraordinary that entomologists are struggling to explain why the modest backyard plot appears to have attracted an insect species believed extinct since the late Cretaceous period.

Homeowner Janet Stamen planted the garden in March using a 'Native Wildflower Pollinator Mix' purchased from a hardware store. By June, it was attracting the expected array of honeybees, bumblebees, and swallowtail butterflies. By August, it was also attracting something else.

'There's a big one that comes every evening around seven,' Stamen told reporters. 'It's about the size of a hummingbird. It has mandibles. My neighbor's cat won't go outside anymore.'

Dr. Oren Amber of the Smithsonian's paleontology division examined photographs and a brief video captured by Stamen's Ring doorbell camera. His preliminary assessment: the insect closely resembles Kalligrammatidae, a family of lacewing-like pollinators that went extinct approximately 66 million years ago.

'The wing venation is unmistakable,' Dr. Amber said, his voice strained. 'But this is impossible. This family died out with the dinosaurs. Either this woman's garden has done something unprecedented or I need to retire.'

The hardware store has declined to provide a detailed breakdown of the wildflower seed mix, stating only that it contains 'a proprietary blend of native and heirloom varieties.' An entomological team has been dispatched to Boise.

Stamen has continued watering the garden as usual. 'Whatever it is, it seems to like the coneflowers,' she said. 'And honestly, it's very polite. Better manners than the yellowjackets.'