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Butterflies Alive
In the fall of 2000, the museum had a special exhibit called Butterflies Alive! This was an indoor butterfly habitat that housed 5 different species of butterflies and the live plants necessary to support both the larval and adult stages of the butterfly. The exhibit was a tremendous success educationally, we had thousands of students tour the live exhibit and see first hand the lifecycle of the butterfly.
Butterflies are probably the most loved insect on the earth. Their bright colors and gentle flight add a sense or peace and beauty to our homes and gardens.
Here are some helpful hints on attracting butterflies to your home from Janis Merritt at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.
Water
--Fill a shallow dish with sand approx. 1" from the top, add pebbles for the butterflies to land on, and then add water.
--Do not use a sprinkler to water butterfly plants as this can dilute or wash nectar away completely.
--Puddling: Butterflies feed at puddle margins or moist areas seeking salts or amino acids.
Basking
--Butterflies need to soak up warmth to become active. Place decorative rocks or logs in flower beds to provide a place to sit and spread their wings.
Life Cycle
--Be careful not to destroy the other life stages of the butterfly (egg, larva, or pupa). Do not use pesticides on butterfly plants.
Hibernation
--Some species of butterflies hibernate as adults through the winter. They use cracks in logs, tree bark, fence posts, etc. as hibernating sites. Other species over winter in the egg, larva, or pupa stage.
Plantings
--Plan your butterfly garden to provide blooming plants throughout the season.
--Use large splashes of color, colors butterflies are most attracted to are purple, white, yellow, pinks, with true blues next and red.
--Leave or add some large and small trees for perching. Evergreen trees and shrubs provide protection from storms. Some examples of evergreens are Silktassle, Wax Myrtle, Yaupon Holly, Cenizo, Evergreen Sumac, Mountain Laurel, Arizona Cypress, Live Oak, Cedar, native grasses, etc.
--Native grasses are a larval food primarily for Skippers. These grasses also provide cover during cold nights and from rainstorms these will also provide seeds for birds.
--Some butterflies prefer rotten fruit. Provide native plants that drop fruit such as grapes, dewberries, Mexican Plum, Texas Persimmon, and Blanco Crabapples. Also a food source for birds.
--To increase your butterfly population be sure to provide plants for the caterpillars to munch. You can mix these plants in with your nectar plants, grow them in containers, or provide a special place to plant them. Remember without caterpillars there would be no butterflies.
--Create an edge: Low flowers at edge of lawns. High flowers at edge of trees or along a fence.
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