"Butterfly garden" redirects here. For exhibits with captive butterflies, see Butterfly house (conservatory).
A monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) feeding on butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). Monarch populations have been declining in abundance due to loss of habitat in the United States and deforestation at overwintering grounds in Mexico.[1]
Butterfly gardening is a way to create, improve, and maintain habitat for lepidopterans including butterflies, skippers, and moths.[2] Butterflies have four distinct life stages—egg, larva, chrysalis, and adult. In order to support and sustain butterfly populations, an ideal butterfly garden contains habitat for each life stage.
Butterfly larvae, with some exceptions such as the carnivorous harvester (Feniseca tarquinius), consume plant matter and can be generalists or specialists. While butterflies like the painted lady (Vanessa cardui)[3] are known to consume over 200 plants as caterpillars, other species like the monarch (Danaus plexippus),[4] and the regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia)[5] only consume plants in one genus, milkweed and violets, respectively.
As adults, butterflies feed mainly on nectar, but they have also evolved to consume rotting fruit, tree sap, and even carrion.[6] Supporting nectarivorous adult butterflies involves planting nectar plants of different heights, color, and bloom times. Butterfly bait stations can easily be made to provide a food source for species that prefer fruit and sap. In addition to food sources, windbreaks in the form of trees and shrubs shelter butterflies and can provide larval food and overwintering grounds.[7] "Puddling" is a behavior generally done by male butterflies in which they gather to drink nutrients and water and incorporating a puddling ground for butterflies will enhance a butterfly garden.[8][9] While butterflies are not the only pollinators, creating butterfly habitat also creates habitat for bees, beetles, flies, and other pollinators.[7]
^Brower, Lincoln P.; Taylor, Orley R.; Williams, Ernest H.; Slayback, Daniel A.; Zubieta, Raul R.; Ramírez, M. Isabel (March 2012). "Decline of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico: is the migratory phenomenon at risk?: Decline of monarch butterflies in Mexico". Insect Conservation and Diversity. 5 (2): 95–100. doi:10.1111/j.1752-4598.2011.00142.x. hdl:2060/20140010155. S2CID 86566051.
^Multiple sources:
Xerces Society; Smithsonian Institution (1998). Butterfly Gardening: Creating Summer Magic In Your Garden. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. ISBN 0871569752. LCCN 90030362. OCLC 763003507. Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
Warren, E.J.M. (1988). The Country Diary Book Of Creating A Butterfly Garden (1st American ed.). New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0805008144. LCCN 87083030. OCLC 1193384885. Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
Schneck, Marcus (1994). Creating A Butterfly Garden: A Guide To Attracting And Identifying Butterfly Visitors. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0671892460. LCCN 93039582. OCLC 29386562. Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via Google Books. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
Hurwitz, Jane (2018). Butterfly Gardening: The North American Butterfly Association Guide. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400889365. LCCN 2017958516. OCLC 1017925007. Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via Google Books. (5) Glassberg, J. (1995). Enjoying butterflies more: attract butterflies to your backyard. Marietta, Ohio: Bird Watcher's Digest Press. ISBN 1880241080. LCCN 96202681. OCLC 35808599. Retrieved March 9, 2020 – via Google Books.
Tekulsky, Mathew (2015). The Art Of Butterfly Gardening: How To Make Your Backyard Into A Beautiful Home For Butterflies. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1336285668. OCLC 906132918. Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via Google Books.
"Butterfly Gardening: Introduction". University of Kansas: Monarch Watch. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
"Monarch Garden Plants" (PDF). San Francisco, California: Pollinator Partnership. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
"Monarch Waystation Program". University of Kansas: Monarch Watch. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
Abugattas, Alonzo (January 3, 2017). "Monarch Way Stations". Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017 – via Blogger.
"Plants for Butterfly and Pollinator Gardens: Native and Non-native Plants Suitable for Gardens in the Northeastern United States" (PDF). Monarch Watch. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
Wheeler, Justin (November 21, 2017). "Picking Plants for Pollinators: The Cultivar Conundrum". Xerces Blog. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
^Krenn, Harald W. (December 24, 2001). "Proboscis musculature in the butterfly Vanessa cardui (Nymphalidae, Lepidoptera): settling the proboscis recoiling controversy: Proboscis musculature in Vanessa cardui". Acta Zoologica. 81 (3): 259–266. doi:10.1046/j.1463-6395.2000.00055.x.
^"Northeast Region Milkweed Species" (PDF). Monarch Joint Venture. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 21, 2015.
^Solis-Gabriel, Lizet; Mendoza-Arroyo, Wendy; Boege, Karina; del-Val, Ek (May 24, 2017). "Restoring lepidopteran diversity in a tropical dry forest: relative importance of restoration treatment, tree identity and predator pressure". PeerJ. 5: e3344. doi:10.7717/peerj.3344. PMC 5445945. PMID 28560101.
^Ômura, Hisashi; Honda, Keiichi (November 2003). "Feeding responses of adult butterflies, Nymphalis xanthomelas, Kaniska canace and Vanessa indica, to components in tree sap and rotting fruits: synergistic effects of ethanol and acetic acid on sugar responsiveness". Journal of Insect Physiology. 49 (11): 1031–1038. doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2003.07.001. PMID 14568581.
^ abMader, p. 263
^Pivnick, Kenneth A.; McNeil, Jeremy N. (December 1987). "Puddling in butterflies: sodium affects reproductive success in Thymelicus lineola*". Physiological Entomology. 12 (4): 461–472. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3032.1987.tb00773.x. S2CID 85228518.
^Smedley, S. R.; Eisner, T. (December 15, 1995). "Sodium Uptake by Puddling in a Moth". Science. 270 (5243): 1816–1818. Bibcode:1995Sci...270.1816S. doi:10.1126/science.270.5243.1816. PMID 8525374. S2CID 46385297.
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Butterflygardening is a way to create, improve, and maintain habitat for lepidopterans including butterflies, skippers, and moths. Butterflies have four...
to Europe. ButterflyGardening. kansasnativeplants.com Multiple sources: Wise, K. A. J. (June 1963). "Food-Plants of 'Monarch' Butterfly Larvae". Tuatara...
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work in synergy and the weed rarely recovers. Breeding butterflies and moths, or butterflygardening/rearing, has become an ecologically viable process of...
dot moth, and a nectar source for other butterflies and bumblebees. They are often part of butterflygardening plantings. In the wild, many species are...
333709. S2CID 248733989. Retrieved 25 October 2017. Soule, J.A. 2012. ButterflyGardening in Southern Arizona. Tierra del Soule Press, Tucson, AZ Nitin, Ravikanthachari;...
Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a...
They are used especially in gardens designed to attract butterflies (see Butterflygardening). The nectar of the plant attracts many other species of...
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was formed in order to promote awareness of butterfly conservation and the benefits of butterflygardening, observation, photography and education. As...
attractive perennial, can be variable in appearance, and is used in butterflygardening. In Zuni ethnobotany, an infusion of the whole plant is used externally...
(2016). "A Milkweed for Every Garden". Pollinator Friendly Gardening: Gardening for Bees, Butterflies, and Other Pollinators. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press. p...
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Soule, J.A. 2012. ButterflyGardening in Southern Arizona. Tierra del Soule Press, Tucson, AZ "Baccharis salicifolia - Butterflies". calscape.org. Retrieved...
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industrial city. In the United Kingdom, community gardening is generally distinct from allotment gardening, though the distinction is sometimes blurred. Allotments...
Lift A Leg"). 1990. Norton. ButterflyGardening: Creating Summer Magic in Your Garden (afterword and chapter "Butterfly Watching Tips"). 1990; new edition...
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