Butterflies are native almost everywhere, and there are over 700 species that may be found in the United States alone.  They all depend on plants for food and reproduction, and are often extremely specific as to which plants they feed on.  Many species of butterflies migrate long distances every year in search of food plants, while others are quite localized in their distribution.  Unfortunately, human development of natural areas has critically endangered many types of butterflies because their food plants have been destroyed.

     The good news is that particularly in the past 20 years, butterflies have become quite popular.  During that time, conservationists have increased their efforts to save endangered butterfly species.  Many botanical gardens around the country have created impressive conservatory exhibits of live butterflies that have been big hits with garden visitors.  And gardeners everywhere have begun to realize that they can enjoy wild butterflies in their own gardens simply by planting the food plants that butterflies like.

     Although it's always nice to visit natural areas, you don't necessarily need to take a field trip to see butterflies.  They get around pretty good, too, and if you plant the plants they like in your garden, the butterflies will come visit you!  These days, the concept of "butterfly gardening" is very popular throughout the country, and there are many fine books that have been written on that subject.

     Backyard butterfly gardening is all about attracting wild butterflies with the flower food that they love, then keeping them around by providing the plants they need to raise a family.  Most of our wild butterflies are happy to find nectar in a variety of flowers (see my July and August columns for their favorite nectar plants).  To make more butterflies, however, you have to plant just the right kinds of plants that the butterfly caterpillars can eat. 

     All of us looked a little different when we were kids, but if you were a butterfly, you would have looked way different!  A lot of people don't like caterpillars, and that's a real shame because in reality they are baby butterflies (or moths, who are nice people, too).  The next time you go to squish a "worm" on one of your plants, you should carefully consider this! 

     As many lucky children know, the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly is a truly amazing thing, and to see it in your own garden is a wonderful experience.  There are several key species of local butterflies that will be happy to raise a family in your garden if you plant the plants their kids love to eat.  Like many human children, baby butterflies (caterpillars) are voracious feeders that prefer to eat the same thing every day.  In the case of the caterpillars, it is their specific food plant that they hatched out on. 

     One of the easiest and most effective caterpillar plants for our area is the passionflower vine, which will bring many orange Gulf Fritillary butterflies to your garden.  Although a number of species are useful, it is Passiflora caerulea and its hybrids that are the most popular with these butterflies. 

     This year in my garden, there were clouds of adult butterflies flying around my passionflower vine in early summer, and it wasn't hard to figure out what they were doing.  Soon enough, there were caterpillars galore on the plant, and I fully expected them to make their chrysalises right on the vine when the time was right.  Well, you just never know what kids are going to do next.  To my surprise, at a certain point all the caterpillars headed for the ground, and then they started appearing underneath tables, on the side of our house, and even one on our front door! 

     It seems that a lot of species prefer such sheltered spots to pupate, and considering that they'll be very vulnerable to attack by birds for a few weeks, they attach themselves to wood, where the color of their chrysalises makes for good camouflage.  This actually was very convenient for us, since it made it all the easier to watch them when the day came for them to emerge from their chrysalises (they do this amazingly quickly) as adult butterflies.  Believe it or not, our front door caterpillar successfully metamorphosed into an adult butterfly despite nearly 100 opening and closings of that door while it was in its chrysalis!