Butterfly garden

Dienstag, 26. Oktober 2021 •

Butterflies are the soul of the garden - at least in ancient times the butterfly was considered a symbol of this.
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Either way, butterflies bring a smile to almost everyone's face. Everyone likes to have them in their garden, but in fact we see less and less of them. They are very sensitive to the disappearance of pristine nature, to be precise, to the disappearance of landscape structures and of native wild plants.

This already says most of what we can do for the delicate long-tailed moths (the elephants among the insects), for the moths, more prettily put, the moths, for the webs and caterpillars.
We need to create places for them to fill up on food, meaning nectar. We need to give them protected structures where they can overwinter, and for the caterpillars we need to have the "right" plants in the garden so that their metamorphosis can take place at all and the gluttonous larva can transform into this magnificent juggler of the air.

Emperor cloak (Argynnis paphia)

So which are the right plants, which natural elements are particularly existential for butterflies?

We'll start with the caterpillar food plants. Native woody plants of all kinds are essential for butterfly caterpillars. Oak tops the table of butterfly plants at floraweb.de. 154 butterfly species, benefit from it, either as a caterpillar or as an imago, that is, as a finished butterfly.

Willows also play a prominent role. The salt willow is the first nectar source for butterflies very early in the spring. For example, the thistle butterfly needs it so that it can refuel with aviation fuel in between on its long-distance flight from Africa to the North Cape. At this time of year, there are otherwise few native sources of nectar in our landscape. The daphne (Daphne mezereum) could be mentioned as a native shrub. It also blooms in March and unfolds its fragrance in light, humus-rich mixed beech forests.
You can also help with iris, scilla or crocus bulbs that you put in the ground in the fall.They are not native, but at this time of year, when survival is at stake, you should not be so picky.

The squeaky yellow flowers of coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) on embankments, dams, alternate moist places in the woods are noticeable when you walk through the area in late February/early March. They are also a food source for butterflies and even essential for some caterpillar species, such as the Great Ground Owl and the Blood Bear. Coltsfoot is egg-laying and feeding ground for the hatched caterpillars. In the garden, you can also easily cultivate it.

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)

Native woody plants and native wild perennials are livelihoods.

You can't go far wrong at all with native woody plants if you want to encourage butterflies. They are all more or less suitable as caterpillar rearing stations: A few particularly good examples are: the hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna, for small gardens also like compacta), hazel (Corylus avellana), honeysuckle (Lonicera spec. ), privet (Ligustrum vulgaris), sloth tree (Rhamnus frangula, spec. for lemon butterfly caterpillars), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), in principle all Prunus species, such as plum, damson, cherry, all wild rose species, light tree species such as birch, oak, as mentioned above, or aspen.

For perennial species, the focus is similarly on the word native. Native wild perennials are especially for the caterpillars livelihood. By their, over several hundred thousand years lasting evolution history, they are connected with the plants like pot and lid.

Swallowtail (Papilio machaon)

The adult butterflies, which use their long proboscises - they are the elephants among insects - to get perfectly into lower-lying flowers, are usually not quite so picky. They can often suck nectar from many possible plants and plant families. This is also called polylectic, for those who want to learn a technical term. That is, they are less specialized, accepting many varieties of flowers. In contrast, caterpillars, just like wild bees, their phylogenetic siblings, are mostly oligolectic. They need a very specific plant species, or plant family to feed on in the larval stage.

Butterflies are the soul of the garden - at least in ancient times the butterfly was considered a symbol of this.
.
Either way, butterflies bring a smile to almost everyone's face. Everyone likes to have them in their garden, but in fact we see less and less of them. They are very sensitive to the disappearance of pristine nature, to be precise, to the disappearance of landscape structures and of native wild plants.

This already says most of what we can do for the delicate long-tailed moths (the elephants among the insects), for the moths, more prettily put, the moths, for the webs and caterpillars.
We need to create places for them to fill up on food, meaning nectar. We need to give them protected structures where they can overwinter, and for the caterpillars we need to have the "right" plants in the garden so that their metamorphosis can take place at all and the gluttonous larva can transform into this magnificent juggler of the air.

Emperor cloak (Argynnis paphia)

So which are the right plants, which natural elements are particularly existential for butterflies?

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)

Native woody plants and native wild perennials are livelihoods.

Nettles are popular with Miss Glutton

It is now well known that stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) are extremely valuable caterpillar food plants. Four species - the land moth, the admiral, the peacock butterfly and the lesser fox - depend on them. Once again, it's not that simple in nature, everything is quite sophisticated, and everyone has found their niche in the course of evolution. The small fox eats the nettles on the dry-hot places, the country bearded is subscribed to the fresh-moist places and the admiral seeks out solitary stinging nettle plants.
For another 30+ caterpillar species, nettles are also very tasty, but there are other plants for them to choose from.

Day peacock (Aglais io)

So it is recommended to spare a few nettles here and there. For example, and incidentally, to process them in the kitchen as a superfood.

The nettle is, as a nitrogen pointer, in our over-fertilized landscape, however, certainly not in short supply. What is in short supply are lean sites, and that is where the specialists among our moths live, including the less conspicuous and noticed moths.

Moths and evening primrose

Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis). It is only since 1620 with us in Central Europe native, but very popular, especially with the moths. I wonder if this is why it is called evening primrose! Possibly, but I am not sure. Its flowers open at dusk and are already faded by the next noon. In the meantime, moths or even diurnal insects like the pigeon tail are attracted by their scent. They can sometimes be seen buzzing in front of the flower, sucking the nectar from the flower with their long proboscis and, on this occasion, depositing pollen on the pistil, thus pollinating the plant.

Light pollution - a problem for nocturnal insects.

On the subject of moths and pollination, an experiment conducted in Switzerland found that plants flower 60% less when moths are absent, due to too much light pollution. So a word about light pollution. Above all, of course, this is an issue in cities. Billions of insects die from light. Nocturnal insects normally orient themselves by moonlight. Artificial light sources cause them to become disoriented and buzz around them until they die debilitated.

Therefore, always reduce light where possible. And that works better since almost everyone carries around a cell phone with flashlight function. By the way, short-wave light with a high blue content is particularly problematic, long-wave light (red and orange) is less disturbing. And above all, the light should be targeted and directed downward - i.e., not illuminate the entire garden in a big way.
Besides, apart from the insects, of course, we also have something from the nightly darkness. We will otherwise hardly notice the twinkling of the stars.

How do butterflies actually hibernate?

Butterflies have developed very different strategies to survive the uncomfortable season.

Migratory butterflies

Some are migratory butterflies, such as the thistle butterfly, which kills our winter in North Africa, recently, in the sign of global warming, it also travels only to Mediterranean countries. In the same way the admiral and also the pigeon tail, they don't fly over the Alps in winter like before, they are warm enough in our latitudes in the meantime.

Thistle butterfly (Vaneesa cardui)

Thistle butterfly (Vanessa cardui)

As imagines.

Then there are butterflies like the Lemon Butterfly, Peacock Butterfly, Small Fox and Large Fox that overwinter as adults. They simply hang out in the trees, somewhat protected and disguised as dead leaves, and can survive extreme temperatures there without any problems. In fact, you could say that the colder, the better for the citronella butterflies. If it gets too warm for them, they will awaken from winter torpor and may starve to death if no winter flowering plants can be found nearby.

Lesser Fox (Aglais urticae)

This is also the reason why butterflies such as the peacock butterfly, which can occasionally be found in the house or garage in winter, should not be taken into heated rooms. They would starve to death there pretty quickly. It is best to put them in a small cardboard box with a slit for them to fly out in the spring, and put it in a cool room, such as the garden shed or garage.

As a doll

And then, of course, there are the moths hibernating as pupae. To do this, they look for wall cracks or attach their cocoon to shrubs. You can already see why winter pruning of hedges is not a good idea for butterflies.

This variety includes, for example, the aurora butterfly or the cabbage white butterfly. The pupal stage lends itself, no energy is expended, and when temperatures are pleasant, and most importantly, the right plants are in bloom, the internal timer that brings metamorphosis to completion is triggered, and the butterfly flies out.

As a caterpillar or egg

The last option would then be to overwinter as an egg. This is laid in the fall on stones or roots on the ground, so that in the spring, as soon as the first fresh, tender shoots appear, it is not far to the buffet. Or evergreen species are chosen right away as egg-laying sites, such as horned clover or kidney vetch. In some cases, the caterpillars also hatch from the egg case as early as autumn and then simply spin themselves in for overwintering.
In this way, they also do not easily become the snails fat prey, for which insect eggs are a delicacy.

Processionary moth web
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But no matter in what form the moths overwinter in our garden, it is always important not to overdo it with the order. The more foliage, plant stems, dead wood, brushwood piles, facade greenery and small niches exist, the more hiding and overwintering opportunities they will find.

How do butterflies communicate with each other?

Fascinatingly, butterflies converse via scents, via fragrances, it has been discovered.
They are molecular wizards, as Michael Altmoos calls them. A male night peacock can smell an unmatted female at a distance of ten kilometers. Scents that are barely measurable and imperceptible to us humans. An amazing story that you might be able to share as a butterfly whisperer.

Can we actually plant butterflies?

So can we get butterflies in the garden by cultivating certain wild plants, according to the if-then-consequence?

Maybe what we expect and what we have bet on will happen, but even more likely something completely different will happen, something we have not counted on. We can increase probabilities. Improve the chance that the swallowtail will move in with us, nature does not give us a guarantee.
For this we can observe the interactions of life in all variations and - unexpectedly one gets, as one knows, always the greatest gifts.