Butterfly Gardening Part II

Butterfly Bush

Courtesy of Butteflysite.com

One way I search for caterpillars on larval food plants is to follow the trails of damaged leaves.  While some leaves look normal, others are missing, half eaten and visibly damaged.    Usually within a minute of inspecting the leaves and branches, I find the caterpillars hiding in the branches near the stalk.  In these unique environs also lies butterfly egg deposits on nearby leaves.  These caterpillars are awaiting hatching and will begin the larval stage, which will last two to four weeks.

I feel like a plant detective while observing their paths during this process.  For the last three days, I was able to capture caterpillars moving into the pupa stage.  This is the last stage before metamorphosis.   The pupa stage can take anywhere from two weeks to several months.   Today when I went out with my camera, the pupas were gone.  I can only assume birds found them earlier this morning.   For now, I’ll start the discovery process over and hope that the next group will make it through to metamorphosis.

Texas Laurel Bush
Bev's Backyard Spring 2011

I mentioned in my last post that the Southwest Desert is home to over 250 species of butterflies, which are divided into six families.  This week I’ll finish the list by naming these butterfly families as follows:

Blues, Hairstreaks and Metalmarks, Lycaenidae, also called gossamer-winged butterflies are small with wingspans of one inch.   Bright and glossy that often resemble metallic tones.

Brushfoots, Nymphalidae are medium to large in size with wingspans from one to four inches.  Colors range within a combination of brown, tan orange and black.

Skippers, Hesperiidae are small to medium size with wingspans ranging from one to three inches.   This family is moth like and are brown, black, white or orange.

Snouts, Libytheidae are brown, orange and white with wingspans of one and a half inches.  Their elongated mouthparts give the appearance of a snout, and are often disguised as dead leaves while hanging upside down.

Swallowtails, Papilionidae, are large and extremely colorful butterflies with black and yellow hind wings.   Three to five inch wingspans with tails that fork.

Whites and Sulfurs, Pieridae range from small to large with one to four inches of wingspans.  Mainly these butterflies are white, yellow or orange with/without black spots.

Since the remaining nectar and food larval plants list won’t be posted until next week’s blog, I added a few below.

Butterfly Mist, Ageratum corymbosum attracts butterflies of all kinds for a nectar source during summer and fall.  The alkaloid in the blue flowers attracts male Queens and after ingestion releases an aphrodisiac to attract females.

Fern Acacia, Acacia angustissima is not only an attractive plant, but will attract the creamy yellow Mexican Sulphur as a larval food plant.

Happy desert gardening,

Bev

Butterfly Gardening

Part I

I wish I had more information years ago when I got rid of the pupa on the plants in my garden.  It was in hindsight that I learned these were metamorphosing butterflies—final stage.   There are no words to describe the horror after realizing what I had done.  Does the mistake count as much when it was under the advice of someone else?   Thus, I followed through and well... killed some of nature’s most beautiful creations.  Today, thankfully there are numerous books and websites dedicated to butterfly gardening that can help even the novice gardener. 

In the Sonoran Desert there are over 250 species of butterflies, which are divided into six families.  Even though there are a variety of ways to attract butterflies into your garden, not all flowers, plants, shrubs or trees will entice them in for nectar. It doesn’t matter if your yard is large or small, but specific plants and placement are the key reason butterflies visit or not.   

Butterflies use plants in sunny locations for one of two reasons: as a source for nectar or as a larval food plant.  When used as larval food plants, there are four cycles to a butterfly’s transformation.  These are the egg, larva, pupa and adult stages.   In the southwest, butterfly season is visible from mid February through November when temperatures range between 65-95°F or just after a rain.  It is not uncommon to see some species in December and January depending on how warm the winter may be.

Adult Gossamer
Photo Courtesy of William Vann

I grow a variety of plants from both the nectar and larval food source to ensure a balance of attracting butterflies and their passage.  This blog begins a series and partial list of plants and butterfly species for the southwest desert region.  This week I’ve added a few larval food plants, one nectar source and two of the six butterfly families to get enquiring minds started.

Larval Food Plants

Butterflies love herbs in the Parsley family, which they use as larval food plants.  A species named the Black Swallowtails will find their way to these plants.  These herbs will incur plant damage during the process, but you can grow a herb garden for yourself and one for the butterflies if you desire.  Keep yours free of the caterpillars by picking them off and relocating them.  Don’t use harsh chemicals that will kill caterpillars and butterflies, but perhaps organic products that discourage them.  Parsley attracts springtime butterflies in migration.  

The Velvet Mesquite, Prosopis velutina is a dominant shrub and tree species native to the southwest desert which has an edible mesquite pod used for a food source by rabbits, squirrels, deer and other animals.  The Velvet Mesquite is extremely vivid with gold blossoms in the springtime.  Not only is it an essential part of the desert eco-system, but is also larval food plant for butterflies.   Hairstreaks are often found in these trees in the hot summer afternoons and evenings.

Velvet Mesquite Tree
Spring 2011,  Mesa, Az

Nectar Source

One of the many nectar sources is the beautiful Trailing Lantana, Lantana montevidensis, which is a ground cover that invites almost all types of butterflies.  This plant comes in two colors, white and purple, but other colors are available, but they don’t trail or cascade.  I like white because it brightens up my garden.

Two Butterfly Families of the Southwest

Swallowtails, Papilionidae, are large and extremely colorful butterflies with black and yellow hind wings.   Three to five inch wingspans with tails that fork.

Swallowtail
Photo Courtesy of William Vann

Blues, Hairstreaks and Metalmarks, Lycaenidae, also called gossamer-winged butterflies are small with wingspans of one inch.   Bright gloss tones that often resemble metallic. 

Arizona Metalmark
Photo Courtesy of William Vann

This is Part I of a three part series on butterfly gardening.