Butterfly gardening is designed to create an environment that attracts butterflies, as well as certain moths. Butterfly gardening is often aimed at inviting butterflies and moths to lay eggs as well. Because some plants are not fed by adult butterflies, caterpillar hosts must also be planted for larger butterfly populations. Butterflies usually eat flower nectar, and there are hundreds of plants that may be planted to attract them, depending on location, time of year, and other factors. In addition to planting flowers that feed butterflies, other ways to attract them include building a "butterfly house", providing sand for lubrication, water, and other resources or food, including rotten fruits.
Video Butterfly gardening
Reasons for butterfly gardening
Some people just love to see butterflies, while others like to take photos as well. Others try to help butterfly populations by planting native plants that eat rare or endangered butterflies. Done properly, butterfly gardening can increase butterfly populations. Many butterflies become less abundant as a result of habitat destruction and fragmentation, and they do not eat plants that are regularly found in the garden. Others can also help in marking monarch butterflies, which help scientists monitor monarch populations and their migration routes. Butterflies also function as pollinators of flowers and attract butterflies can also help in pollinating nearby plants. Typically, the flowers of the plant that attract butterflies also attract other pollinating insects. Gardening with butterflies can also serve as educational opportunities for children and can be a relatively safe way to introduce them to nature.
Maps Butterfly gardening
Problem
Butterflies have many predators, including mantid, wasps, spiders, birds, ants, true insects, and flies in the Tachinidae family. If these predators become a problem, they can be controlled with traps rather than pesticides, which can also kill their butterflies and larvae. There are also diseases that afflict butterflies, such as bacteria in the genus Pseudomonas , nuclear polyhedrosis viruses, and Ophryocystis elektroscirrha , which infects only the butterfly queen and monarch butterflies.
In the absence of pesticides, aphids and actual insects can occupy the plant. Some gardeners may want to release ladybirds and other biological pest control agents that do not harm the butterflies to control aphids. However, the release of the ladybugs is not a good idea in places like the United States where the released species is generally an invasive Chinese ladybug. An alternative to this is to wait for local predatory insects to find aphids. One technique used to speed up this process if the infestation is very high is to spray bushes with a mixture of sugar and water, simulating the aphid honey. It is known to attract lacewings that larvae feed on aphids. Another control method is to spray the plant with water, or rinse the plant with a mild dishwasher/water solution (although the caterpillar should be relocated before the foam is applied). The scented detergent is fine; containing OxiClean should be avoided. Aphids will turn black in one day, and eventually fall. One last technique is to plant a variety of different flowers, including those that attract hoverflies and Braconid parasites, whose larvae kill the pest species. However, it is not advisable to kill all aphids, just to control them so they do not harm the plants. Aphids still play a role in the environment by providing food for predators. There are even some caterpillars like harvests that only eat certain species of lice and not plants.
With a small butterfly house garden, it is common for larvae to expend food sources before a metamorphosis occurs. The butterfly garden gardener can replace the milkweed spent with sliced ​​pumpkin or cucumber, which can serve as a replacement food source for monarch caterpillars in their last (fifth) instars. Planting some plants in clumps can help lower the chance of running out of leaves.
Efforts to increase butterfly populations by building butterfly gardens require special attention to food preferences and population cycles of target species, as well as the conditions necessary to spread their crops. For example, in the Washington area, D.C. and elsewhere in the northeastern United States, butterflies prefer to reproduce on ordinary milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), especially when the leaves are soft and fresh. As the reproductive monarchs in the area peak at the end of the summer when most of Asclepias syriaca leaves are old and hard, plants should be cut back in June - August to ensure that their growth will quickly return when the monarch reaches its peak. In addition, Asclepias syriaca seeds require a period of cold treatment known as stratification before germination.
Plants that attract butterflies
Research should be conducted as to what species are prevalent in your area, and what plants they like for nectar. Depending on your zone, some butterflies attract crops including: purple cone flowers ( Echinacea purpurea ), yellow cones, sunflowers, marigolds, poppy flowers, cosmos, salvias, lilies, daisies, coreopsis, daisies, verbenas, lanthanas, liastris, milkweed (especially for butterflies, caterpillars eat only this plant), butterfly bushes (also called buddleia), zinnias, performances, porterweeds, and others. Avoid plant cultivars that have "double flowers" (more petals blocking the center) because it is difficult to access butterflies. Treatment should also be done to research a species, to make sure it is not invasive in your area.
In addition to expanding the number of species seen in your yard, give the host plant that feeds the caterpillar. It's just as important as planting a flower bed with a rich bloom of nectar.
See also
- The butterfly house (conservatory)
- Category: List of Lepidoptera by food
- Category: List of butterflies
References
External links
- Plants To Draw Butterflies
- The Habitat Gardening Butterfly Program, NABA
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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