Butterflies are beautiful and fascinating creatures with scales on their wings and “taste buds” on their feet. But populations have been declining, partly due to habitat loss. The good news is that gardeners can help! If you grow the host plants that specific butterflies love, you can support them through the entire life cycle. Host plants are where butterflies choose to lay eggs, which hatch into caterpillars that feed there until they form chrysalises and undergo metamorphosis.
PERFECT PLANTS How do female butterflies know which plant to lay eggs on? They have special taste organs on their forelegs and feet to help determine if a plant, such as the black-eyed Susan at right, is what they’re looking for. Some species lay single eggs; others lay in clusters, usually on the underside or top of a leaf.
Newly hatched caterpillars are little eating machines that typically have four to five stages of growth, or instars, over several weeks before forming a chrysalis.
WHAT DO CATERPILLARS EAT? Foliage is the most popular item on the menu, but some caterpillars also eat flowers. Some species are very specific about which plants are best for their young—for example, monarchs only eat milkweeds. Others aren’t picky at all. Painted lady larvae have been found feeding on 100 different plants, such as thistles, hollyhock and members of the pea family.
Besides growing host plants, the best thing you can do to help butterflies is to avoid using pesticides and herbicides (even organic solutions, such as neem oil or pyrethroids). They’re just as deadly to butterflies and their young as they are to insect pests.
