The plant secretes enzymes that digest the insects and the plant absorbs the nutrients. These supplementary nutrients help the plant grow in the nutrient-poor peatlands. Another insectivorous plant found on the fen is the spatulate-leaved sundew. In the fall, the northern wild raisin has clusters of purple berries and the squashberry has bright red berries. These berries are an important food source for birds and the berries of the northern wild raisin are especially important to the caterpillar of the spring azure butterfly.
Insects are also abundant in both the boreal forest and the fen.
You may see dragonflies and damselflies flying around catching smaller insects for food or defending territories. Dragonflies are larger and heavier than damselflies and always hold their wings perpendicular to the body after they have landed, while damselflies rest with their wings held vertically or partly outspread. Both eat large numbers of insects and therefore are important as biological controls. They have aquatic nymphal stages in their life cycle and, in an attempt to increase their numbers, we have constructed several ponds in the garden. Bees and wasps may also be seen collecting nectar from various flowers.