Transcript Butterflies in the Garden

Attracting Butterflies To A Garden
Butterflies have four main stages during their life cycle.
It is important to create a garden that is attractive to all stages.
There are five steps to creating a
garden that will attract butterflies.
• Create physical conditions that will provide a
butterfly with a safe and comfortable habitat.
• Appeal to a butterfly’s senses.
• Provide a good menu for both caterpillars and
adults.
• Encourage reproduction by providing plants
that are good for caterpillars.
Physical Conditions
A healthy butterfly environment includes
several important elements.
• Sunlight- butterflies need a sunny area to stay warm
• No pesticides
• Mud puddle- mud contains minerals that are important
for a butterfly’s diet
• Dark colored rocks- when a butterfly gets cold, it will sit
on a rock in full sun to warm up
• Trees with large leaves- leaves provide shelter from
weather as well as a place to lay eggs
Appealing to Senses
• Touch- warm surfaces (like dark stones)
• Taste- plants that caterpillars will eat and flowers that
butterflies will drink
• Smell- fragrant flowers
• See- Butterflies see in cool colors. The center of a warmcolored flower looks blue or purple, acting like a target
showing the butterfly where to drink nectar.
Good Menu
Certain plants attract certain species of
butterflies. Butterfly bushes are a popular
garden plant, but they are an invasive species that
attract stink bugs. Fresh fruit like oranges and
watermelon will also attract butterflies.
Encouraging Reproduction
Butterflies lay their eggs on plants that their
caterpillars will eat once they hatch.
If you plant it, they will come.
Butterflies Native To Maryland
Maryland is home to 151 known species of
butterflies. In the next few slides, you will see
pictures of Maryland natives, including some of
the plants their caterpillars are known to eat.
Monarch vs. Viceroy
These two insects are a good example of mimicry. Monarch
caterpillars eat milkweed, which makes them taste terrible
throughout their lifecycle. The Viceroy adult looks almost
exactly like an adult Monarch, but doesn’t taste as bad.
Viceroy caterpillars feed on members of the willow tree family.
Black Swallowtail
Tiger Swallowtail
herbs (parsley, dill)
tulip tree, sweet bay,
black cherry, ash, poplar,
birch, aspen, choke cherry
Spicebush Swallowtail
Buckeye
spicebushes
toadflax, plantains,
snapdragon
Cabbage White
Cloudless Sulfur
cabbage, brocolli,
brussel sprouts
clover
Painted Lady
Red Spotted Purple
thistle, mallow,
hollyhock
cherry, poplar, aspen;
Adults love raw apples
Eastern Tailed Blue
Spring Azure
clover
dogwood, viburnum,
blueberry
Question Mark
Red Admiral
elm, hackberry,
hops, nettles
nettles
Mourning Cloak
Little Wood Satyr
willow, aspen, elm,
cottonwood, birch
grasses, sedges
Silver Spotted Skipper
honey locust, bush clover
Baltimore Checkerspot
This is our state butterfly. It is extremely endangered
because it’s only food source is the Turtlehead, a
rare plant that deer find extremely tasty.