The Gloworm

6 May 1999
Volume 7: no. 4

If you are planning to attend 4-H Entomology Camp at Wall Doxey State Park - June 6-10, 1999 - WE NEED YOUR APPLICATION FORM - now! An application is included in this mailing. Campers should also get their camp physicals up to date.

In one sense it's almost too late to get started this year, but then in another, it's never too late to start - butterfly gardening! As plants begin to flower, butterflies appear as if by magic. Some of them emerged from chrysalises where they spent the winter attached to a bush or weed, others awoke as adults from their winter's nap and crawled out of a crack in dead bark or a crevice which they had located last fall. Still other butterflies hatched from eggs or crawled as caterpillars from ground debris and grew through their life cycle on a weed or other plant host. But more and more butterflies are arriving in greater numbers, daily. Probably the easiest way to attract butterflies is to plant flowering plants which will remain in bloom most of the growing season. A favorite annual and one which most (even those with brown thumbs) can grow is zinnias. A large bed of these colorful blooms will attract and hold butterflies of many species.

To attract butterflies of a particular species it is important to do a little research to find out which plants they prefer, then plant those. Do not omit those plants which provide food to the larvae, for the adults have two basic needs 1) to feed on nectar plants and 2) to reproduce. Remember nectar and larval plants may not be the same. In fact many of the larger butterflies will lay their eggs on herbs like dill or parsley. These are easily grown and provide larval host food plants.

It's often much easier to attract `native' species by `just going native.' Look at uncut roadsides and other undisturbed areas to see what flowers are growing - then observe which butterflies visit them. Those same plants should draw them into your garden. A native garden may be obtained in two ways, 1) just leave the area undisturbed for a year or so and it will `go native' or 2) harvest seeds from undisturbed areas or even transplant wild plants. ( There are some areas which are protected, so be sure and check before you dig!)

Included in this Gloworm is a table of plants which some common butterflies prefer for both nectar and larvae. Also included is a list of references for butterfly gardening.

Interesting publications where more information may be found:

Ajilvsgi, Geyata - Butterfly Gardening for the South, Taylor Publishing Co. Dallas, 1990
Pyle, R.M, - The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies, Knopf, New York, 1981
Scott, J. A. -The Butterflies of North America, Stanford Univ. press, Stanford, 1986
Tekulsky, M. The Butterfly Garden, Harvard Common Press, Boston, 1985
Xerces Society/ Smithsonian Institution - Butterfly Gardening: Creating Summer Magic in Your Garden, Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1990
Lewis, Alcinda - Butterfly Gardens: Luring Nature's Loveliest Pollinators to Your Yard, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, 1997

Happy Bugging!