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Why A
Butterfly House?
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The Butterflies need a home! And we
need the Butterflies! Most of the pollination of flowers
and plants is done by butterflies. There is a great joy
in watching the beautiful rainbow like colors and
fluttering of the butterflies as they dance across the
wind! |
Like Bats there are many butterfly species that are extinct
or endangered and each day the list keeps getting larger. With
insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, and cutting down our
nations forest along with destructive weather patterns and
their regular list of natural enemies, the butterflies have
drastically decreased in number. We must give nature a helping
hand.
Attracting
Butterflies
The best way to
attract any wildlife species is to provide a consistent source
of food, water, shelter, and habitat landscaping in an
environment free of pesticides, herbicides, and other
chemicals. In designing a butterfly habitat, you will want to
provide a source of food for both caterpillars and
butterflies.
Butterfly
caterpillars can be found nibbling on the leaves of Asters,
Milkweed, Snapdragons, Sunflowers, Violets, and Citrus. Not to
worry…although they are eating the leaves of these plants,
they will not cause any significant damage and will not move
on to your prized roses or rhododendrons. Just keep in mind
that without these crawling critters, the butterflies would
not be possible.
When the
butterflies become adults, they can be found sipping the
nectar of flowering plants. Some research suggests planting
the following flowers: Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia); Joe-pye
weed (Eupatorium); Aster; Purple coneflower; Butterfly bush
(Buddleia); Liatris.
Another source
suggests honeysuckle, clover, phlox, wildflowers, rotting
fruit (bananas, apples), molasses, and stale beer. Many
species like to drink at mud puddles and congregate where the
ground is damp and sunny. They recommend sinking a dish of
damp sand in the ground with flat rocks around it to absorb
heat.
Adult butterflies
may use the butterfly house as shelter from the elements or
for roosting at night, or it may be used as a nursery for the
developing chrysalis. It may also be used by overwintering
species as a
hibernaculum.
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