The video above (produced by Chap Fowler of Fig Jam Studios) documents a butterfly conservatory in Costa Rica that I was lucky enough to spend a month working at this winter and where I learned more than I ever expected to know about butterflies. Since returning, I’ve been working on transferring what I learned in Costa Rica to design gardens here in Eastern North America that benefit and attract native butterflies. Given how diverse and complex butterflies are, this can be a complicated topic but, if you’d like to attract butterflies to your garden, here is the groundwork and some resources to take you further:
First Off: Providing Butterfly Food
Actually, butterflies and moths get there food from a wide range of sources that can include nectar, rotting fruit, pollen, and even dung or dead animals. Their proboscis, or feeding tube, is only capable of taking in liquid nourishment, though some butterfly species have developed the ability to excrete enzymes that can liquify pollen so that they’re able to ingest this rich food source as well. Most butterflies, however, are nectar drinkers. Thus to provide a food source for the widest range of butterfly species we must provide nectar in forms that they can access.
So what nectar producing flowers do butterflies prefer? They tend to be those that provide a wide landing pad, often composite or clustered flowers; and have short, tubular flowers that they can reach their proboscis into. Flower colors that attract them include red, yellow, orange, pink, and purple. Here are some examples of desirable plants:
Lilacs (Syringa)
Milkweeds (Asclepia)
Bee Balms (Monarda)
Sunflower (Aster) family plants (New England Aster, Echinacea, Oxe-eye Daisy, Hawkweeds, Goldenrods, etc.)
Blazing Star (Liatris)
Having a sequence of blooms throughout the year is also helpful, so that there is always some nectar available. Also, butterflies want more than just food; like us they want to be comfortable. Providing flat rocks in a sunny place will give them someplace to warm up. Puddles too are great, as they often drink from these for water and minerals.
Feeding butterflies is only part of the picture, however. There’s also…
The Very Hungry Caterpillar:
Many species spend more of their lives as caterpillars than they do as adult butterflies. Providing food for caterpillars, however, is a far more complex topic. This is because most butterfly species lay their eggs on specific host plants, often only a few species or a small group of plants. With hundreds of butterfly species and thousands of moth species occurring in North America, the list of plants that house their eggs and larvae is also diverse. To select host plants, probably the best tactic is to first figure out which butterfly or moth species you’d like to host and then find out what plants they lay their eggs on. Also, you’re most likely to have caterpillars in your garden if you grow host plants for some of the more common butterflies in this area. A few common species in upstate NY and their host plants are:
Monarch (Danaus plexippus) – Milkweeds (Asclepia species)
Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) – Parsley family (Apiaceae) plants such as Queen Anne’s lace, fennel, carrot
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) – A generalist on several woody plant groups including Cherry (Prunus), Magnolia, Tulip Tree (Liriodendron), Birch (Betula), and Willow (Salix)
Great-spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) – Violets (Viola)
Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) – Pea family plants such as Sweet White Clover (Melilotus alba) and White Clover (Trifolium repens)
Silver Spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) – Woody legumes such as Black Locust (Robinia psuedoacacia) and Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
And a few other particularly loved species:
Viceroy (Limenitis archeppus), a monarch mimic – Willows (Salix), Poplars (Populus)
Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio trolius) – Spicebush (Lindera) and Sassafras
Cecropia Silk Moth (Hyalephora cecropia) – Woody plants such as Maples (Acer), Willows (Salix), Dogwoods (Cornus), Cherries (Prunus), Apples (Malus)
Luna Moth (Actius luna) – Sweetgum (Liquidambar), White Birch (Betula papyrifera), Persimon (Diospyros), Hickories (Carya), Walnuts (Juglans), and Sumacs (Rhus)
Hummingbird moth (Hemaris thysbe) – Honeysuckle (Lonicera) and Hawthorn (Crataegus)
American Cooper (Lycaena phlaeas) – Sheep Sorrel and Curled Dock (Rumex)
This is just a primer. For more information on host plants and on butterflies and moths in general a great resource is www.butterfliesandmoths.org
