October is an important month for butterflies. The monarchs are making their epic migration towards Mexico, gracing us with their presence as they stop to feed on saltbush or lantana plants along the coast. But our homegrown orange-and-black butterfly is showing up everywhere right now, too. The Gulf fritillary (Agrautis vanillae) is a smaller species, but also features bright orange wings with black stripes and spots. Their caterpillars come dressed for Halloween, too—they are a deep orange color with black legs and spikes. While the caterpillar is not venomous to any potential predators, the spikes are quite intimidating and serve a protective function.
A gulf fritillary butterfly gathering nectar from a similarly brilliant orange flower. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF IFAS Extension
Fritillary (name from the Latin “chessboard”) eggs are bright yellow and laid primarily on varieties of passionflower vines, which the caterpillars feed voraciously upon. Passion vine is an important host plant for the zebra longwing as well, which is Florida’s state butterfly.
Gulf fritillaries are found in all 67 Florida counties, and may live throughout the southeastern United States, Mexico, and central and south America. They are found in varied habitats but prefer open, sunny spots in fields, forests, and gardens. The butterfly’s wing shape puts them into the “longwing” category, as their elongated wings spread wider than other species.
Caterpillar of the Gulf fritillary butterfly on corkystem passionflower. Photo credit: Jaret C. Daniels, University of Florida.
In the fall, fritillaries migrate to the warmest ends of their range. By spring, they move slightly north into North Carolina or interior Alabama.
Are you one of those that hear the word “pollen” and sneeze? For many, allergies are the only association with plant pollen. But pollination – the transfer of male pollen grains into the female flower organs to create fertile seeds – is an essential part of a healthy ecosystem. Pollinators play a significant role in the production of over 150 food crops. Corn and rice are wind pollinated. Just about everything else, including chocolate, depends on an insect, bird or mammal. Successful pollination of a single flower often requires visits from multiple pollinators. But, there are also plants that need a specific species in order to complete the task. They are so interdependent that if one disappears, so will the other.
Unfortunately, reports from the National Research Council say that the long-term population trends for some North American pollinators are “demonstrably downward”.
In 2007, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved and designated “National Pollinator Week” to help raise awareness. National Pollinator Week (June 21-27, 2021) is a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them. Habitat loss for pollinators due to human activity poses an immediate and frequently irreversible threat. Other factors responsible for population decreases include: invasive plant species, broad-spectrum pesticide use, disease, and weather.
So what can you do?
Install “houses” for birds, bats, and bees.
Avoid toxic, synthetic pesticides and only apply bio-rational products when pollinators aren’t active.
Provide and maintain small shallow containers of water for wildlife.
Create a pollinator-friendly garden.
Plant native plants that provide nectar for pollinating insects.
There’s a new app for the last two.
The Bee Smart® Pollinator Gardener is your comprehensive guide to selecting plants for pollinators based on the geographical and ecological attributes of your location (your ecoregion) just by entering your zip code. http://pollinator.beefriendlyfarmer.org/beesmartapp.htm
Filter your plants by what pollinators you want to attract, light and soil requirements, bloom color, and plant type. This is an excellent plant reference to attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, beetles, bats, and other pollinators to the garden, farm, school and every landscape.
The University of Florida also provides a website to learn the bee species and garden design. Go to: https://ffl.ifas.ufl.edu/bees/Bee
Not only can you find out which plants attract pollinators, you will be given the correct growing conditions so you can choose ‘the right plant for the right place’.
Remember, one out of every three mouthfuls of food we eat is made possible by pollinators.
The change in North Florida temperatures from cooler to warmer is making many winter weeds more noticeable as they begin to flower and form seed. Not all of these plants should be considered for mowing or hand pulling. There are several wildflowers that grow in landscape beds and thinning areas of lawns and can be enjoyed before consistent heat returns.
Toadflax flowers are held above the foliage and are light purple. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
One very delicate wildflower that is growing now is the Toadflax, Linaria canadensis. The leaves are very small and grow low on the ground. Thin flower stalks grow several inches and are topped with light purple flowers. Although toadflax pops up in beds and lawns don’t be so quick to pull it out. This wildflower is a host to the Buckeye butterfly, one of our earlier visitors to gardens. If you look closely you may even see the tiny black, spiny caterpillar eating toadflax leaves. Visit the UF publication on the Buckeye butterfly to learn more.
Adult buckeye butterflies are common in landscapes in early spring and late summer. Photo by Lo Sitton, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Blue Morpho Butterfly feeding on banana. Photo: J_McConnell, UF/IFAS
Have you been thinking about creating a butterfly garden but don’t know where to start?
Afraid it’s too much upkeep or has to look wild and untamed?
Red Admiral Butterfly. Photo: J_McConnell, UF/IFAS
Spend a Saturday morning with the UF/IFAS Master Gardeners of Bay County to see how to design, install, and maintain a colorful low maintenance butterfly garden.
Next Saturday, June 3rd, is the free Butterfly Gardening Workshop in Panama City at the UF/IFAS Extension Office at 2728 E. 14th Street. Come learn about butterfly gardening and see our vibrant garden.
Please register ahead of time so that we can supply enough materials for all attendees by calling 850-784-6105 or sign up online.
Giant Swallowtail on citrus leaf. JMcConnell, UF/IFAS
Adult butterflies are pretty easy to attract to your landscape if you provide flowering plants, but getting them to lay eggs in your garden is a little trickier.
Butterflies go through complete metamorphosis which means that they have four main life stages. The first is the egg, second they hatch into caterpillars (larvae) which feed and molt many times, the third stage is the pupa or chrysalis, and finally they emerge as colorful adults. Complete metamorphosis is considered a more advanced life cycle than incomplete and one of the reasons is because most insects that go through this process do not compete for food at different life cycles. For example, the gulf fritillary butterfly larvae needs passionflower (Passiflora spp.) to feed on – no other plant type will do. The adults visit many flowering landscape plants such as zinnias, butterfly bush, pentas, etc. The adults are feeding on nectar while the caterpillars are eating foliage.
Because the larvae are very host specific, you must offer the correct plant to attract particular butterflies. Luckily, we have many options in the Florida panhandle! Just remember if you would like to attract butterfly breeding to your yard, you must sacrifice some foliage to support the caterpillars.
• Gulf Fritillary – Passionflower
• Monarch – Native milkweed
• Giant Swallowtail – citrus
• Eastern Black Swallowtail – plants in the carrot family including dill, celery, fennel, and parsley
• Tiger Swallowtail – sweet bay magnolia, tulip poplar, black cherry
• Zebra Swallowtail – pawpaw
• Luna Moth – walnut, hickory, sweetgum, persimmon, winged sumac
If you would like to know more about individual butterfly species please visit UF/IFAS Entomology & Nematology’s Featured Creatures website.
