Butterflies in Your Backyard 3 to Eat
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Spicebush swallowtail. Illustration by Liessa Thomas Bowen Colorful butterflies, like this great spangled fritillary, have made butterfly watching a Palamedes Swallowtail popular pastime. Photo courtesy of Thomas G. Barnes, University of Kentucky (Papilio palamedes) utterfly watching, though unlikely to match the widespread popularity of Family Pieridae bird watching, has gained significant favor in recent years. Butterflies are B (sulphurs, whites, and yellows) colorful, diverse, abundant, and active during the day in warm months, making them an ideal pursuit for wildlife watchers. In fact, wildlife watching Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) as a whole, given impetus by the increased awareness of regional and ecologi- Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice) cal diversity, has become one of this country’s fastest-growing outdoor recre- Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) ational activities. Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe) Butterflies and caterpillars (the provide a home for more than 160 larval stage in the butterfly life cycle) butterfly species. Some species are provide food for birds and other found statewide, while others are organisms, pollinate flowers, and are restricted to a specific habitat or easy to attract to a garden or back- region. Scientists classify species yard landscape. Butterflies are found into a series of genera and families, throughout North Carolina and will based upon similar genetics or flourish within a well-designed similar physical characteristics. landscape of native plants in both Here is a sampling of the butter- rural and urban areas. Planting a flies you are likely to encounter in variety of both nectar plants for North Carolina: adults and host plants for caterpillars in a sunny location will ensure many Family Papilionidae hours of viewing pleasure as butter- (swallowtails) flies visit your garden. Pipevine Swallowtail Orange sulphur. (Battus philenor) Illustration by Liessa Thomas Bowen Common butterflies of Zebra Swallowtail North Carolina (Eurytides marcellus) Family Lycaenidae Black Swallowtail (gossamer-wings) North Carolina’s diverse natural (Papilio polyxenes) landscape includes coastal dunes, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) pocosins, sandhill savannahs, (Papilio glaucus) Red-Banded Hairstreak piedmont forests, wetlands, and Spicebush Swallowtail (Calycopis cecrops) mountain ranges. These habitats (Papilio troilus) 2 North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service Eastern Tailed-Blue American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) (Everes comyntas) Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) Red-Spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) Monarch (Danaus plexippus) Family Hesperiidae (skippers) Silver-Spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) Least skipper. Long-Tailed Skipper Illustration by Liessa Thomas Bowen (Urbanus proteus) Southern Cloudywing Life cycle (Thorybes bathyllus) Eastern tailed-blue. Juvenal’s Duskywing Butterflies and moths are unique Illustration by Liessa Thomas Bowen (Erynnis juvenalis) because they change from a Horace’s Duskywing caterpillar to a winged adult Family Nymphalidae (Erynnis horatius) through a process called metamor- (brushfoot butterflies) Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor) phosis. A typical butterfly’s life Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) begins as an egg, generally laid on American Snout Sachem (Atalopedes campestris) the leaf of a host plant. A host (Libytheana carinenta) Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius) plant is a plant that caterpillars like Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma) Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) A monarch butterfly changes from an egg (top right) to a caterpillar to a pupa to a winged adult during a process called metamorphosis. Common buckeye. Illustration by Liessa Thomas Bowen Illustration by Liessa Thomas Bowen Butterflies in Your Backyard 3 to eat. Eggs soon hatch into roof. A butterfly can fly even if caterpillars, which act as eating these scales are removed. machines to devour leaves of the • Colors such as blue, green, host plant. Caterpillars often have violet, gold, and silver on butter- very specific food requirements fly wings are not caused by that restrict them to a particular pigment, but rather by light plant. After a few weeks, the reflecting off the wing scales. caterpillar molts into a mummy- • Depending upon the species, like stage with a hard protective adult butterflies can live from 1 casing, called a pupa or chrysalis. week to 9 months. The great purple hairstreak, like other While in the chrysalis, the caterpil- • Butterflies (and other insects) butterflies, has a preferred host plant, mistletoe. Photo by Chris Moorman lar is transformed into an adult. At have an exoskeleton, or structural the end of about 2 weeks, the support on the outside of their adult emerges from the chrysalis, bodies, to protect them and keep Their colors may vary slightly, spreads and dries its wings, and in fluids so they don’t dry out. and females generally are larger than males. But size cannot be used to distinguish between the sexes because individuals of any single species may vary in how big they are, depending on the amount and quality of food they ate as caterpillars. • Most butterflies lay their eggs on a specific type of plant, called their host plant, which their caterpillars later feed on. Excep- A monarch caterpillar (left) feeds on the foliage of its host plant, milkweed, before tions include Harvester caterpil- changing into an adult (right). Left photo courtesy of Thomas G. Barnes, University of Kentucky; right photo by Chris Moorman lars, which eat woolly aphids, and a few other caterpillars that eat rotting leaves rather than begins searching for food and a • Butterflies and caterpillars living plant foliage. mate. Following successful mat- breathe through “spiracles,” • Adult butterflies may feed on ing, the female begins her search which are tiny openings along nectar from flowers, but some for a host plant on which to the sides of their bodies. prefer rotten fruit or tree sap. deposit her eggs, and the life cycle • Butterflies can smell with their They suck the liquid food begins again. antennae. through a straw-like “tongue” • Butterflies have compound eyes that allow them to see the colors Physiology and behavior red, green, and yellow. Their eyes do not rotate to follow a • Butterflies and moths are insects predator’s movement; rather, in the order Lepidoptera, mean- they detect movement as the ing “scaly-winged.” A person object moves from one facet of who studies these creatures is the eye to the next. called a “lepidopterist.” • Butterflies use special nerve cells • Moths may have whip-like, fern- called chemoreceptors on the like, or fuzzy antennae with no pads of their feet to “taste” food knobs at their ends. Butterfly Male eastern tiger swallowtails and identify leaves of their antennae are smooth, thin, and congregate at “puddling” areas. caterpillar’s host plant before Photo courtesy of Thomas G. Barnes, whip-like with a terminal knob. they lay their eggs. University of Kentucky • Butterfly wings are covered with • In some butterfly species, thousands of tiny overlapping females and males look different. scales arranged like shingles on a 4 North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service called a proboscis, which curls cavities. They emerge in search Why focus on native plants for up under the head like a of sap or rotten fruit on warm, butterfly habitat? watchspring when not in use. sunny days. • These plants require relatively • Male butterflies often congregate • Eggs, caterpillars, and adult little maintenance, watering, or at “puddling” areas, which butterflies have many predators. care because they are adapted to include mud puddles, moist soil To avoid them, females lay eggs a particular area. along stream banks, and animal in concealed locations on the • Native plants will attract butter- feces. There they ingest salts host plant, and caterpillars often flies native to the region. Cater- important in sperm production. look inconspicuous. To scare pillars are very picky eaters and • Different species of butterflies away predators, some caterpillars will eat only very specific host have characteristic behaviors. have large eye-spots that re- plants; native plants provide For example, some perch on semble a snake’s head. Other these specific food sources. leaves, guarding an area and caterpillars have protective • Some exotic plants grow with chasing away intruders. Others spines, release obnoxious scents, excessive vigor and compete for appear to constantly patrol or just plain taste bad. space with native plants. Be- certain areas and rarely perch. cause some exotics could “es- • Butterflies bask in the sun to cape” from your garden and warm their bodies before they threaten nearby wild habitat, fly. Their wings act as solar they should be specifically collectors. avoided (see Landscaping for • Butterflies are most active Wildlife with Native Plants, during the warmest parts of the AG-636-03). day, but in temperatures of over • Most ornamental plants are bred 100° F, they may become over- for color and bloom size, not for heated and seek shade. Passionflower and many other native nectar production. While these plants provide an ideal habitat for butterflies in your backyard. Photo courtesy of Thomas G. Barnes, University