Devil's Beggarticks
Bidens frondosa
Found in fields, pastures, wet meadows, swamp forests, ditches. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
88
Keystone
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- About 4 feet
- Light
- Part shade
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- June to October
- Fruiting season
- Summer to fall
JFMAMJJASOND
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 96 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.
Habitats
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground; wet meadows; swamps.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 118 animals.
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- American Black DuckAnas rubripes
- American CootFulica americana
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
- Bank SwallowRiparia riparia
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Black-and-White WarblerMniotilta varia
- Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus
- Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus
- Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticorax
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
- Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
- Blue-winged WarblerVermivora pinus
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
21CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Bidens
- Cecropterus lyciadesHoary Edge
- Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
- Cirrhophanus trianguliferGoldenrod Stowaway, Beggarticks Seedcropper
- Condica confederataThe Confederate
- Condica mobilisMobile Groundling
- Dichomeris juncidellaOrange-Dotted Dichomeris
- Epiblema abruptanaAbrupt Epiblema
- Epiblema otiosanaBidens Borer Moth
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Homoeosoma electellaSunflower Moth
Show all 21
- Palthis asopialisFaint-Spotted Palthis
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
- Pyrausta tyralisCoffee-Loving Pyrausta
- Pyrrhia exprimensPurple-Lined Sallow, Purple-Lined Sun Moth
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Urbanus proteusLong-Tailed Skipper, Bean Leaf Roller
- Agonopterix atrodorsella
76BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Bidens
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
8Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Bidens
- Andrena aliciae
- Andrena chromotricha
- Dianthidium curvatum
- Dieunomia heteropoda
- Megachile inimica
- Megachile parallela
- Megachile xylocopoides
- Melissodes denticulatus
10BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Bidens
- Acanthis flammeaCommon Redpoll
- Aix sponsaWood Duck
- Anas platyrhynchosMallard
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Dendrocygna bicolorFulvous Whistling-Duck
- Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
- Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
- Porzana carolinaSora
- Rallus limicolaVirginia Rail
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Flies 4
- Exoprosopa decora
- Peleteria robusta
- Spallanzania hesperidarum
- Tropidia albistylum
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 1
- Sphex vulgaris
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Adult butterflies / moths · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Single crown
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Fall
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Single crown” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “About 4 feet” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Part shade” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
- Soil · “Wet; Wet-mesic” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
Also known as
Devils Beggar Ticks
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Choose a county to begin.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications