Butterfly gardening
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Butterfly gardening is a way to create, improve, and maintain habitat for lepidopterans including butterflies, skippers, and moths. Butterflies have four distinct life stages—egg, larva, chrysalis, an
A monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) feeding on butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). Monarch populations have been declining in abundance due to loss of habitat in the United States and deforestation at overwintering grounds in Mexico.
A monarch waystation near the town of Berwyn Heights in Prince George's County, Maryland (June 2017)
A coral hairstreak (Satyrium titus) resting on a clump of grass. The larvae will feed upon species in the family Rosaceae, including cherry (Prunus serotina)
Group of Lysandra coridon puddling
Asclepias
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Asclepias is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are d
Butterfly gardening
…plants as caterpillars, other species like the monarch (Danaus plexippus), and the regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) only consume plants in one genus, milkweed and violets, respectively. As adults, butterflies feed mainly on nectar, but they have also evolved to consume rotting fruit, tree sap, and even carrion…
Danaus plexippus on Asclepias incarnata 4999
A monarch butterfly on swamp milkweed
Asclepias syriaca seed pods, upper image from August and lower from December
Milkweed sprout, a few days after sowing