Attracting butterflies into the garden

[Pip]

I live in an area of Australia that due to geography and climatic conditions (mainly lack of humidity) the number of large butterfly species that visit my garden is very low. The Monarch Butterfly has collonised Australia thanks to the introduction of milk weeds. I enjoy watching them so I do cultivate the Swan Plant Gomphocarpus fruticosus which is actually native to South Africa and a declared weed nation wide due to being poisonous to live stock. The caterpillars that feed on the plant usually devour all the leaves and seed pods so it isn't usually a problem for me. I also don't graze livestock. Yesterday a female Monarch returned to my garden to lay her eggs.

This summer I will plant a few caper spinisosa bushes to attract the Caper White butterfly.

[Pip]

I also grow a verity citrus for the Dainty Swallowtail but they fly so fast and rarely linger which makes them difficult to watch. The Monarch's hang about.

I also always have nasturtiums as they are a good host plant for the Cabbage White butterfly. The cabbage whites stay year round.

I used to see evidence of the Palm Dart butterfly on my Archontopheonix but that was years ago winter cold may have killed them off.

Does anyone else deliberately host plants for butterfly caterpillars?

[DoomsDave]

Hmm.

Don't know what you have in Oz, but here milkweeds are great (There are some ornamental varieties), along with various members of the carrot family including Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota), lantana, and others.

Many of these are, alas, noxious weeds.

[SailorBold]

I do not.. Are monarchs native there? I rarely see them in New Mexico as we are sometimes in their flight path.

[DoomsDave]

Monarchs are in decline here in the U.S. because, apparently, the widespread use of herbicides in many "waste places" has largely killed off the milkweeds on which the species depends. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly#Population_decline This theory has its critics. Nevertheless, there are a lot fewer monarchs in Ohio than there used to be, for whatever the reason.

[tropicbreeze]

It's believed that monarchs have been migrating across the Pacific for a very long time but it was only with the introduction of milkweed into the country by Europeans that they were able to establish themselves permanently. That was the mid to late 1800's and so far they've only occupied the eastern part of the country. They don't migrate to the same extent as in North America. In the more southerly parts there's some movement towards the coast in winter. Further north it's actve and breeds all year.

We have a more recently arrived migrant/invader, Acraea terpsicore - Tawny Coster. Came in 2012 and is rapidly spreading, expected to occupy the whole of tropical monsoonal Australia by 2050. Apparently it's the massive rainforest destruction going on in South East Asia that's giving it the weed infestations and cleared open areas to help it's spread. Originally came from India. It's preferred food (for larvae) is one of our common native plants.

[Tropicgardener]

I have planted a number of Melicope elleryana and Melicope rubra for the gorgeous electric blue 'Ulysses Butterfly' which is found along Queensland's tropical coastline down to just south of Mackay. I have also planted Aristolochia tagala for the 'Cairns Birdwing Butterfly' which is Australia's largest butterfly. It also occurs to just south of Mackay.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Tropicgardener

[redbeard917]

Yes, I put butterfly plants around my palms because they both do well in sunny areas. I was told we get a decent variety here because temperate and tropical species come through. Zinnias are an easy, common garden annual butterflies seem to love. Here is a photo of one on a zinnia. In the lower left is a firebush bloom, Hamelia patens. Also lantana on the right. I think I've read lantana is invasive in Australia, but you can find sterile garden hybrids that also have more compact growth; google the bandana series if interested. I also grow native perennials like coneflower (echinacia) and Indian blanket (gaillardia) for butterflies. There are many cultivars but I don't know if they would be available there. The Zinnias that are not double-flowered constantly put out blooms, are easy to grow and seem to be very attractive to butterflies, so I'd recommend them. Having something reliable and with blooms lasting most of the growing season like those mentioned is good (and that is probably even easier for you with a warmer climate) because it brings them in, and things that attract them but bloom only for a short time just supplement it. I enjoy seeing them fluttering around my butterfly bed when I eat breakfast and neighbors even come look at them sometimes.

[redbeard917]

Pic: coneflower w/ butterfly

Two other plants I forgot to add (because a recent frost burned mine back til next year) are Cuphea and Salvia 'Wendy's Wish'. The latter was actually introduced from Australia, I believe.

[tjwalters]

Pic: coneflower w/ butterfly

Two other plants I forgot to add (because a recent frost burned mine back til next year) are Cuphea and Salvia 'Wendy's Wish'. The latter was actually introduced from Australia, I believe.

That appears to be a zebra swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus). You must have pawpaws in the area.

[Pip]

This butterfly the Woods White or painted Jezabell was once very common in my area. Due to habitat loss it is very rarely seen. I took this photo a few years ago while visiting the Arid Lands Botanic Garden in Port Augusta.

Please keep sharing your butterfly pics

[Alicehunter2000]

Just like Redbeard, we get a pretty good variety here along with hummingbirds. Haven't planted specifically for them but my wife is into flowering companion plants so they seem to hang around a good bit. Always notice them on the purple Mexican petunias. ...not sure of names.

[Alicehunter2000]

Zebra is cool looking

[Palm crazy]

Since I've planted butterfly bushes in the garden a few years ago I've notice a big increase in seeing them. I really need to get some milkweed for them. In the country people tell me that they see monarchs all the time. I've always wanted to buy some butterflies to release but at $8.00 each thats a little to expensive for me. I use to catch and mount them as a kid but I just can't do that in good faith as an adult.

[tjwalters]

Here's a larger image of the zebra...

[tjwalters]

Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) on purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea):

[Pip]

Here's a larger image of the zebra...

Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) on purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea):

Awesome. The swallowtail's found in my area don't have the exaggerated tails so not as spectacular.

I took my dogs for a run through one of the nearby national parks on the weekend where we found the scrub to to timing with common brown butterflies unfortunately they move so fast I couldn't get a good picture. Maybe without the dogs I may have been successful.

[tjwalters]

They are pretty spectacular for temperate butterflies. The zebra is a "kite" swallowtail - that is, in the genus Eurytides, which is mostly neotropical. It's the only representative regularly found in the southeastern U.S.

Here's another one of our more attractive butterflies - the spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus):

[NApalm]

This is a cool thread! The only natives ive planted HAD to be fauna attracting. Be that butterflies, birds, frogs, insects etc. with a hope that when the plants are large and dense, they'll produce a small habitat for them to hang around. The richmond birdwing butterfly is nearly extinct in the Brisbane region due to habitat loss and the introduction of a vine. It's name escapes me but I think it's called dutchmans pipe or something similar. I've planted its natural host vine but when the garden matures I'll plant out a lot more and maybe buy some larvae with an aim to sustain a small colony! That would be cool

[tropicbreeze]

The Richmond Birdwing feeds on native Aristolochia which transmit poisons into the butterfly making it less palatable to would be predators. Unfortunately the imported/exotic Aristolochia which have very showy flowers have other toxins in them which poison the butterfly larvae. There's been a big campaign over the years to remove all the imported Aristolochia from gardens and replace it with the natives. If people really get behind the campaign it should work, but you can buy just about any seed over the internet and some people don't really care.

[NApalm]

Thanks for the Info tropicbreeze. I've never seen one in real life but it's not worth me buying the larvae until I have an adequate food supply. One day hopefully

[tropicbreeze]

There's a few things to watch out for. There are still some wasps that can parasitize the larvae so high concentrations of larvae can attract the wasps. They're probably better grown caged (effective fine mesh screens) and released as adults. Different animals require different numbers for a viable population. Say, like Flying Foxes need to have huge numbers, in their hundreds of thousands, to sustain the species. Magpie Geese are much the same. Don't know what the figure is for Richmond Birdwings. One of the problems with low populations is inbreeding and deformities and consequent lack of sufficient recruitment into the adult population. Of course that's not to say don't do it. Just a matter of knowing some of the issues involved. The thing would be to find some of the groups that are actively involved in the program and 'pick their brains'.

[Tropicgardener]

NApalm, When I lived in Brisbane many years ago I was actively involved with planting out Aristolochia praevenosa (Paristolochia I think it is now)............ We had some success but those vines can be hard to establish. In my own garden I planted out Aristolochia tagala (Cairns Birdwing Vine) that was much faster growing. Richmond Birdwings were able to lay on it and eat it without harm.

Up here in the Whitsundays I have planted Aristolochia tagala to attract Cairns Birdwings which are found in this area but an interesting fact that not many people know is that the very showy exotic Aristolochia gigantea is a suitable host for the Cairns Birdwing and is safe for their larvae but I have no idea whether it is ok for the Richmond BIrdwing.

[Pip]

Today while inspecting the Bismarckia nobilis I planted at the end of winter I noticed a caterpillar making the beginnings of a chrysalis.

I was hoping for a huge number of caterpillars this year but I've only noticed a few at a time.

[Pip]

[Moose]

Found these critters sleeping in the Key Lime tree. Its in bloom and they hang around it all day. Must be for the nectar, no evidence of growing larvae.

[Kailua_Krish]

Look like Zebra longwings, the state butterfly of Florida. Their larvae eat Passiflora sp. They tend to group together as adults making really cool displays!

[Pip]

They look awesome Moose. Butterfly's are always on the move in my garden never really sticking around other than to visit a flower or two and lay an egg.

The caterpillar I found yesterday making a chrysalis took close to 24 hours to complete its change.

now I get to watch the colour change from emerald green to transparent.

[Pip]

The butterfly emerged while I wasn't looking but luckily I found it hardening its wings.

[John Case]

I have a Buddleia and a Penstemon that brings them around in the summer,,,,,,

[tjwalters]

The butterfly emerged while I wasn't looking but luckily I found it hardening its wings.

20150213_091135.jpg

Certainly looks like a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).

[redbeard917]

Pic: coneflower w/ butterfly

Two other plants I forgot to add (because a recent frost burned mine back til next year) are Cuphea and Salvia 'Wendy's Wish'. The latter was actually introduced from Australia, I believe.

That appears to be a zebra swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus). You must have pawpaws in the area.

There are scrub pawpaws in my yard and probably more in the surrounding area. I'm pretty sure this is an Asimina species. Thanks for the IDs. Your pics are beautiful, as well.