Caterpillar Gardening:
Providing 21st Century
Hosting Solutions
Ruby-Spotted Swallowtail
Austin Butterfly Forum
Berry Nall
June 25, 2017
Gray Cracker
Brown-banded Skipper
My bona fides for talk (or not)
• Background: gardening whole life; gardening
for butterflies for 10+ years; ~100 life
histories on website
• Yard: have observed “immatures” of 89 or 90
species to date.
• At least 45 of these were on hosts I brought
to yard – a few adding new yard records or
turning rare strays into more regular visitors.
White-patched Skipper
Feel free to ask questions during the talk!
Banded Patch (a success story)
• 2007:
2016: finally
found my
got first
to rear
Banded
it; also
Patch
found
caterpillars in yard
Disturbing Reality
• Butterfly
populations
everywhere are
suffering,
especially due to
habitat loss.
4-decade study appeared in 2014 (Science 345:401406) reproduced by Haddad and Wagner, 2017, News of
the Lepid. Soc. 59(2):95.
Our Reality
• The Texas landscape
(and habitat) has
changed dramatically in
recent years.
• One easily observed
reason: population
growth:
– LRGV ~400% in 45 years
ending 2014
– Austin ~350% same time
frame
– (US: ~150%)
Google Maps view of Austin traffic at
4:30 p.m. last Tuesday (6/20/17).
Need: Butterfly Habitats
(= Caterpillar Gardens)
...and you know that. But….
How can we (re)create the proper
environment for butterflies if we don’t
know what that environment is?
Austin = LRGV = California = Florida
21st Century: Data-Driven
• We as “citizen scientists” can add
important information to the body of
knowledge needed to preserve butterfly
populations where we live.
• Clubs such as ABF can use that data to
influence landscaping decisions made by
parks, businesses, and government
entities, as well as individuals.
Tonight’s 2 key encouragements:
• Gather accurate hostuse information
• Find ways to
incorporate butterfly
plants in gardens and
landscapes
Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak
egg on Sandbell (Falcon
State Park)
1. Gather Local Host-use
Information
Problems with some general host lists:
• generic
• non-local plants
• noFrom
variety
the Dallas County Lepidopterists’ Society website,
http://www.dallasbutterflies.com/
• identified hosts may not work
Possible “Known Host” Issues
• Hosts may be misidentified
Case in point: Golden-banded Skipper (specimen from AZ; none in yard
yet!). In 2015 Boscoe, et al, reported the host is Thicket Bean, not Hog
Peanut as has been reported for almost 80 years! Article:
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/nls/2010s/2015/2015_v57_n2.pdf
Possible “Known Host” Issues
• Hosts reported elsewhere may not be accepted
here
Yellow-tipped Flasher larvae refused 3 hosts
reported by Janzen (Central America)
Possible “Known Host” Issues
• Host identified by oviposition may be “false positive”
Coral Vine: fatal attraction
Large Orange Sulphur eggs
Silver-banded Hairstreak
ovipositing
Possible “Known Host” Issues
• Host identified by late instar use may not
support young caterpillars.
Crimson Patch: Tastes Change
Native hosts for oviposition:
•Carlowrightia (LRGV)
•Flame Acanthus (Central TX)
Final instars found on:
•Mexican Honeysuckle
•Shrimp Plant
•Cowpen Daisy(!)
Possible “Known Host” Issues
• Host use and usefulness may vary with
season/conditions
Case 1: Mexican Fritillary
In November, 2011, a confined female refused known host Passiflora
foetida (older leaves), but accepted another known host, Damiana.
The following spring, I found larvae on Passiflora foetida that had fresh
growth.
Possible “Known Host” Issues
• Host use and usefulness may vary with
season/conditions
Case 2: Great Southern White
It appears larvae on Clammyweed can only survive if there is fresh
growth on well-watered plants. Maybe this well-known host needs an
asterisk!
Possible “Known Host” Issues
• Competition may limit a known host’s usefulness
Gulf Fritillaries often
defoliate my native
Passionflowers. I
grow several nonnative Passifloras
for Zebra and Julia
as well as
(hopefully,
someday) the more
exotic Heliconians.
Hammer graphic: http://www.animatedimages.org/cat-hammer-515.htm
Have hosts; what next?
• The hard part: convince people (enough
to make a difference) to use them!
Two-barred Flasher
2. Incorporating Butterfly Plants
• Use showy focus plants (especially dual-purpose
ones)
Cowpen Daisy is an attractive flower,
an excellent nectar source and host
to Bordered Patch.
Incorporating Butterfly Plants
• Consider using bushes in hedges
Chomonque and Barreta (furthest right); would Bernardia work in
Austin?
Incorporating Host Plants
• Use containers for tender or invasive plants
Gauva Tree: the caterpillar is my first yard record for the species!
Container users in my yard include Erichson’s White-Skipper, Orange-barred Sulphur, White-Patched Skipper,
Mexican Yellow, Guava Skipper, Gray Cracker, Great Southern White, Funereal and Mournful Duskywings, Queen
and Monarch, Julia and Zebra Heliconians, Gulf Fritillary, Common Mestra, Texan Crescent, Coyote Cloudywing,
Incorporating Host Plants
• Find creative uses or places for “unattractive” plants:
– A little water and TLC may transform them
– put them under trees and showier bushes
– mix them in into lawns or fields
Left: adult Definite Patch nectaring on Chomonque; right:
host Sweet Shaggy Tuft (Stenandrium dulce)
Incorporating Host Plants
• Carefully choose non-natives that complement natives
(off-season nectar or host; host for non-resident species)
Duranta: nectar and host to
Marius Hairstreak
Shrimp Plant: host to Texan
Crescent and Rosita Patch
Incorporating Host Plants
• Protect from rabbits and deer!
Mexican Yellow in container: a rabbit ate most of a plant that
was covered with eggs!
Incorporating Host Plants
• Be creative, experiment, and let nature lead you
Rabbit fence covered by Noseburn and Passionflower
Ideally, we will identify
• A variety of host plants
for a given species of
butterfly.
• Host plants that are not
invasive (or controls for
those that are).
• Hosts plants that are
attractive in gardens.
• Creative ways to use
unattractive/unappealing
plants.
Blue-eyed Sailor ovipositing (laying eggs)
on Noseburn
Summary
• Identify more local host plants and note
when/how they are used
• Find creative ways to get them in your
gardens AND encourage others to do the
same
• Consider non-natives that add resources
natives may not supply
• Consider container gardening
Selected Links: Host Information
• http://leps.thenalls.net – My website for Starr County reports
observed hosts; download to this presentation
• http://texasento.net/index.html - Austin and beyond info and
hosts
• http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu/caterpillars/database.lasso Extensive database; from Central America but may apply here
• http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/hostplants/ - Worldwide
database that includes many TX/US species
Share what you Find
• Could we develop comprehensive regional
lists that promote the VARIED use of a
VARIETY of host and nectar plants that
butterflies in that region will use?
Mike Quinn’s Butterfly Plants of the LRGV
My Butterfly Garden Philosophy:
native primarily but not exclusively
• Variety is key.
• Majority of native species in the garden
should differ from those across the fence
• Non-native support plants should be used
carefully (as alternate hosts, out-of-season
nectar sources, hosts for potential rangeextensions, etc.)
• Be ruthless with plants that prove invasive!
Native gardeners need to:
• Expect to use some water (but less than
ornamental gardeners)
• Accept damaged leaves
• Be vigilant to control plants that reproduce
easily
• Experiment, experiment, experiment!
Issues with Native Plants
• Hard to identify correctly (use scientific
names!)
• Hard to find sources of plants/seeds
• May be hard to establish
• May become invasive if not monitored