It's National 'Learn About Butterflies Day' and that means it's time for me to stay up until 3 am writing a blog post about why you should love butterflies as much as I do. Actually, that means it's time for me to write two blog posts on the topic - one for the Colorado Aromatics Farm, and one for this little blog that I don't give nearly as much attention to.
Will this be my best interpretively-written post ever? Absolutely not. Will we learn a thing or two about butterflies? Yes we will. Is it worth the read for the sake of the pretty butterfly pictures? You bet.
Why should you care about butterflies?
For starters - have you ever seen a butterfly? Between their wide variety of colors and patterns and their delicate wings they are arguably the most beautiful order of insects. In their larval stages they can be expertly camouflaged and drab, or covered in spots, stripes, hairs, and spines. Likewise, their chrysalises can mirror the image of tree bark and leaf litter, or it can dazzle the eye like jewelry, covered in precious gold, blue, yellow, and green gems. Whether you stumble upon an overwintering chrysalis, uncover a peculiar looking caterpillar on a garden leaf, or see an aerial fight between two bright-winged males, the beauty and wonder of butterflies is on display throughout the year.
If beauty and wonder aren't good enough reasons to care, let's consider the ecosystem services and economic benefits butterflies have. While it's common to focus on bees when it comes to pollination, non-bee pollinators like flies, beetles, ants, bats, birds, and, yes, butterflies and moths are also important for wild plant and agricultural crop productivity. In fact, what non-bee insect pollinators lack in efficiency, they make up for with persistence, typically visiting flowers more often than bees. According to one study, non-bee insects make up 25-50% of flower visits.
Agricultural products like soursop, custard apple, mango, macadamia, cassava, tobacco, and cotton are all dependent on Lepidoptera pollination. In Texas, fly and butterfly pollination is estimated to contribute approximately 120 million USD to cotton production each year. This speaks to the economic consequences associated with a decline in insect biodiversity - not to mention the consequences to the consumable goods we are all used to purchasing that would be in short supply without the help of our butterfly friends.
Butterfly Conservation
Butterflies are beautiful insects, they play a critical role in the maintenance of plant diversity, they contribute to our agricultural systems and maintain our economy, and they have intrinsic value and a right to be respected and protected. So what can we do to show them a little love?
Before knowing how we can best protect them, it's important to understand what’s harming them. There are many natural threats to butterflies including predation by birds, bats, mammals, and other insects, the risk of disease, and parasitism. There are also a wide range of anthropogenic (human-caused) threats to butterflies. These include habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change, pesticides, agricultural intensification, invasive species, and light pollution.
While the best way to amend many of these issues is through voting for environmental policies that protect biodiversity and conserve precious ecosystems, there are plenty of things we can do to help butterflies right in our own backyards.
Grow Host and Nectar Plants One of the best ways we can help butterflies at home is by planting host plants and nectar plants. A host plant is a species of plant that a particular species of butterfly or moth relies on for food as larvae (caterpillars). Nectar plants are species of plants that provide food resources for adult Lepidoptera. Consider planting a variety of plants that are native to your area that serve one or both of these two functions. A garden with plants that range in bloom time can also help ensure that there are food resources for butterflies and moths throughout the year. You don’t need to have a big garden to grow plants for Lepidoptera. In fact, growing flowers in pots or in a window box is a great way to provide resources for pollinators in urban areas where resources are scarce. When buying plants and seeds, look for greenhouses and garden supply shops that specialize in plants that are native to your region. You can also refer to sites like BONAP to see if a plant you are considering is native in your state and county, or sift through species names to get some ideas.
At the Colorado Aromatics Farm where Leo and I currently work, we spent last summer focused on monarch butterfly conservation. Not only did we maintain a patch of showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) and register the farm as a Monarch Waystation, but we also raised and released two rounds of monarch butterflies. We watched them grow from tiny caterpillars to fluttering adults, taking care to protect them from predators and provide them with ample milkweed to munch on until they were ready to form their shining green chrysalises.
Get to know some Colorado butterflies
While we see amazing butterflies everywhere we travel (from New York to Ecuador and loads of places in-between) I feel like it's worth celebrating the butter-babies we see throughout the summer at our current home. I think its important to look for beauty in the everyday, because its easy to forget to keep our eyes and hearts open to wonder and curiosity when we're stuck in our everyday routines. Here are a few of our everyday butterflies that you might be lucky enough to see in your backyard too.
Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola)
We have a soft spot for blues, hairstreaks, coppers, and elfins - all gossamer-winged butterflies or members of the family Lycaenidae. Like all Lycaenids, Reakirt’s blue butterflies are small, having a wingspan of only ¾ - 1 ⅛ inch. Adults are a pale blue with a soft dusky border and black and brown markings. The caterpillars of this species eat flower buds and seedpods of their host plants. They also have a mutualistic relationship with ants, where ants act as protectors of caterpillars in exchange for sugary secretions provided by the caterpillars.
Host Plants: Plants in the pea family (Fabaceae) like foothill clover (Trifolium ciliolatum), white prairie-clover (Dalea candida) intermountain clover (Trifolium andinum), Rocky Mountain clover (Trifolium attenuatum), Cibola milk-vetch (Astragalus albulus), foothill milk-vetch (Astragalus tridactylicus), mountain pea (Lathyrus lanszwertii), and silvery lupine (Lupinus argenteus)
Nectar Plants: A number of herbs including Fabaceae (see above for examples)
Purplish Copper (Lycaena helloides)
A true beauty, this small butterfly prefers moist habitats and can be found throughout the western US, north through Michigan. We were lucky enough to have a purplish copper visit us in early December of 2021, which was certainly a happy surprise.
Host Plants: Buckwheats (Polygonaceae) and cinquefoils (Potentilla)
Nectar Plants: We know they nectar, but the frequency and specificity seems difficult to find. Some of these Lycaenids are difficult to know.
Western Pygmy Blue (Brephidium exilis)
Another gossamer-winged butterfly we have on the farm is the Western pygmy blue. These dainty butterflies have a wingspan of just ½ -⅘ inch. They are a coppery brown color, with soft blue at the base of the wings.
Host Plants: This species favors plants in the Amaranth family (Amaranthaceae) like lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium album), pinyon goosefoot (Chenopodium atrovirens), tumbleweed (Amaranthus albus), green amaranth (Amaranthus powellii), and saltbushes (Atriplex spp.)
Nectar Plants: Adults of this species nectar at a large range of flowers when foraging.
Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus)
Swallowtails are a group of butterflies in the family Papilionidae. They are the largest butterflies in North America and their tropical relatives, the Birdwings, are the largest butterflies in the world. The western tiger swallowtail is a large, bright yellow butterfly with black stripes that give them their tiger-like look. Like many swallowtails, they have a distinctive tail on the end of each of their hindwings. They are very similar to eastern tiger swallowtails, but their ranges have little overlap.
Host Plants: The caterpillars of this species eat a variety of leaves from trees in the willow family (Salicaceae) including cottonwoods, birches, and aspens (Populus spp.), and willows (Salix spp.). Other trees such as ash (Fraxinus spp.) and alder (Alnus spp.) are also used.
Nectar Plants: Western tiger swallowtail butterflies will drink nectar from a variety of flowers including woolly bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum), asters (Asteraceae), and milkweeds (Asclepias spp.)
Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
Also called the parsnip swallowtail, this species has a close relationship with plants in the carrot family (Apiaceae) as well as laurels (Lauraceae) and citrus (Rutaceae). They are an eastern species, with a range that stops with the Rocky Mountains. Males of the species are plack with yellow banding, while females are black with blue scaling on their hindwings. We frequently find black swallowtail caterpillars climbing through our 6 ft tall fennel.
Host Plants: Plants in the carrot family (Apiaceae) like mountain venus parsley (Vesper montanus) and hemlock water-parsnip (Sium suave)
Nectar Plants: A variety of plants including milkweed (Asclepias), thistles (Carduus), and sages (Salvia)
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Found throughout the US, red admirals are a common sight in most gardens and city parks. Males are very assertive, and will even dart out at humans who dare to cross their territory. They have distinctive red bands across their forewings with orange margins at the bottoms of their hindwings.
Host Plants: Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) but it can also be found on false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica)
Nectar Plants: A variety of plants, particularly asters (Asteraceae)
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Another "Vanessa", painted lady butterflies are one of our earliest visitors. Their shape is similar to a red admiral, and their underside has similar markings. However, their above wings are orange throughout hind and forewing with black markings.
Host Plants: Thistles (Carduus) and mallows (Malva), although they are known to use a wide variety of host plants
Nectar Plants: A variety of plants, particularly asters (Asteraceae), milkweeds (Asclepias), and clovers (Trifolieae)
There are so many more butterflies worthy of a spotlight, but alas, it is past my 3 am deadline. Who do you want to learn about next? What host plant questions do you have? Which common butterflies are your personal favorites?
PS. I am currently considering an offer from the University of Connecticut working with the frosted elfin butterfly (Callophrys irus) - exciting stuff!