Butterflies:
Beauty With Brains
 New Insights from the National Wildlife Federation on the Brainpower of Butterflies
 

Spring is here and that means butterflies will soon be fluttering around outside, sipping nectar, and basking in the sun. While most of us admire these dazzling creatures for their beauty and carefree attitude, new research is showing that butterflies are much smarter than everyone thought. According to the National Wildlife Federation, butterflies have both beauty and brains.

Scientists are discovering that butterflies are capable of an astonishing range of clever behaviors such as thwarting attacks, learning lessons, and outwitting competitors. These findings, which are highlighted in a recent issue of National Wildlife magazine, show that butterflies possess highly evolved survival tactics.

For example, young swallowtail caterpillars disguise themselves as bird droppings to avoid being eaten and monarch caterpillars incorporate toxins from plants into their own tissue, which renders them poisonous to predators. Adult butterflies use their excellent color vision to identify nectar-rich flowers and host plants for egg-laying. Also, butterflies such as the Heliconius can actually learn to follow precise routes from flower to flower, visiting the same plant at the same time, day after day.

Today, butterflies are threatened by habitat loss, pollution and insecticides. However, part of the solution to these problems lies in your own backyard. With these tips from the National Wildlife Federation, you can turn your own garden into a butterfly haven.

The first step in attracting butterflies to your yard is planting colorful flowers with nutritious nectar. Such plants include perennials like asters, phlox, goldenrod, milkweed, coreopsis, dianthus, blazing star and joy-pye weed as well as butterfly-friendly annuals like nasturtium, marigolds, cosmos, and zinnias.

Even though most adult butterflies live for only 10-20 days, different species are active at different times throughout the year. To ensure that butterflies will keep coming to your yard, choose a mix of flowering plants that blossom from early spring through late fall.

Another way to greatly increase your chances of attracting unusual and uncommon butterflies is to plant host plants for their caterpillars. Caterpillars are picky eaters and generally rely on only one or two species of plants. Females lay eggs only on plants that their future offspring can eat. Without these plants, the eggs will hatch but the caterpillars will starve or be poisoned. For monarchs, plant milkweed. For black swallowtails, grow parsley or dill. For checkered skippers, plant hollyhocks.

Here are some other tips to keep in mind when it comes to creating a butterfly-friendly garden:

  • Butterflies like lots of sun and little wind, so make sure your key nectar source plants receive sun from mid-morning through mid-afternoon.
  • Expanses of rock, brick or gravel provide space for butterflies to rest and warm their wings.
  • An open patch of wet sand or mud in your yard provides male butterflies a place to drink water and extract salts.
  • Butterflies and native plants have coevolved and are now dependent on one another. Therefore, native plants are the best choice for a guaranteed butterfly presence.
  • Avoid using herbicides and pesticides as these will kill butterflies in both their adult and larval phases.
  • Don’t worry if you see some chewed foliage. It’s to be expected and usually no permanent damage is done to the plants.
 
 
To read the National Wildlife Federation’s complete how-to guide on attracting butterflies, visit http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/attractbutterflies.cfm.
 
Learn more about making your landscape wildlife-friendly by creating a Backyard Wildlife Habitat and having it certified by the National Wildlife Federation [www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat.]
 
Protecting wildlife through education and action since 1936, the National Wildlife Federation is America's conservation organization creating solutions that balance the needs of people and wildlife now and for future generations.
 
Copyright 2004 National Wildlife Federation. All rights reserved. The above article may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without prior written consent of National Wildlife Federation.
 
The nation’s largest member-supported conservation education and advocacy group, the National Wildlife Federation unites people from all walks of life to protect nature, wildlife and the world we all share.