Gardening for the Bugs - Just Fruits and Exotics

Gardening for the Bugs
Most gardeners get pretty worked
up when it comes to bugs eating
their plants, but when you’re a
butterfly gardener, it’s a good sign.
Chewed leaves are often a sign of
the impending arrival of welcomed
guests. All butterflies start their
life as a caterpillar and caterpillars
need a host plant to feed on before
they can move on to their final
stage as butterflies. Few caterpillars will
feed on a wide range of plants; most species
are pretty particular about what they will
eat. If you’re out to cultivate a garden full
of exciting types of butterflies to watch,
then you’ll need to start by planting some
good food to attract them. It also pays to
know what the caterpillars look like so you
Figure 2 Passiflora incarnate x "incense Photo
taken by Just Fruits and Exotic Nursery
don’t mistakenly kill off a good
colony by accidently spraying them.
Figure 3 Mature larva of the zebra longwing butterfly,
Heliconius charitonia (Linnaeus), on corkystem
passionflower, Passiflora suberosa L. (Passifloraceae).
Photograph by Jaret C. Daniels, University of Florida Florida
Publication Featured Creatures Zebra Long Wings
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/zebra_longwing.
htm
Here at the nursery we’ve been trying to cultivate a good colony of Zebra
Long Wings for years. That project started with encouraging the native
passion flower to take hold in the wild spots around our gardens. We then
planted a long fence row of Purple Passion Vine (Passiflora incarnate x
“incense”) its large purple flowers fill the garden with fragrance and provide a
great food source for our favorite butterfly. When choosing cultivated
passion flowers it’s important to know which ones are the preferred host
plants. Along with our native species, the blue-flowered Passiflora incarnate
and Passiflora caerulea are the best choices for drawing the zebra long wings.
Be careful when choosing other passion flowers as host plants as some are
actually poisonous; avoid planting Passiflora racemosa as its toxic.
A side benefit of the passion flower planting has turned out to be a good
Figure 4 Adult Gulf fritillary butterfly, Agraulis vanillae
Linnaeus. Photograph by Jaret C. Daniels, University of
Florida Publication Featured Creatures Adult Gulf fritillary
butterfly
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/gulf_fritillary.ht
m#top
Figure 5 Mature larvae of the Gulf fritillary butterfly, Agaulis
vanillae Linnaeus, on corkystem passionflower, Passiflora
suberosa L. (Passifraceaelo). Photograph by Jaret C. Daniels,
University of Florida. Publication Featured Creatures
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/gulf_fritillary.htm#top
colony of Gulf fritillarys. These bright orange, spiky-black-haired caterpillars
love the passion vines and the butterflies are a constant show in our gardens.
The Sulfurs are another of the super colorful butterflies that inhabit our
area. They hang out in large groups, we’ll often see them swooping through
the gardens like a cloud of yellow, hunting for nectar plants. Their favorite
host plants are in the cassia family. Native plant favorites are Partridge pea
(Cassia fasciculata), sickle-pod senna (C. obtusifolia), sensitive pea (C.
nictitans), but if you’re looking for a showy plant to add to the garden to build
up your colony try Christmas senna or golden shower (Senna pendula).
Figure 6 Lateral view of adult male cloudless sulphur, Phoebis
sennae (Linnaeus), nectaring at smallfruit beggarticks, Bidens
mitis. Photograph by Marc C. Minno, University of Florida.
Publication Featured Creatures Cloudless Sulfur
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/bfly2/cloudless_sulphu
r.htm
Figure 7 Green larva of the cloudless sulphur,
Phoebis sennae (Linnaeus). The head is to the left.
Photograph by Jerry Butler, University of Florida.
Publication Featured Creatures
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/bfly2/clo
udless_sulphur.htm
Figure 9 Fall cassia in bloom. Photo taken by Just Fruits and
Exotics Nursery
Figure 8 Candle Stick cassia. Photo taken by
Just Fruits and Exotics Nursery
Figure 10 Adult giant swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes Cramer,
dorsal view. Photograph by Donald Hall, Entomology and
Nematology Department, University of Florida. Publication
Featured Creatures Giant Swallowtail
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/citrus/giantswallowtail.
htm
Figure 2 Larva of the giant swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes Cramer,
in snake-like "striking" pose. Head is to the right. Photograph by
Donald Hall, Entomology and Nematology Department, University
of Florida. Publication Featured Creatures Giant Swallowtail
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/citrus/giantswallowtail.htm
Swallowtail butteries are a large group with
many colorful butterflies within it. Some of their
favorite food plants are Sweet Bay magnolias,
parsley, dill, fennel and carrots. The Zebra
Swallowtail, one of the most beautiful of the
group, loves paw paw leaves. We get a lot of
inquiries in summer about weird looking caterpillars
on citrus leaves masquerading as what looks like
bird poop. These gross looking caterpillars called
“Orange Dogs” are the larval stage of the Giant
Figure 1 Minneola Tangelo. Photo taken
by Just Fruits and Exotics Nursery
Swallowtail butterfly. Try to
tolerate some chewed leaves
on your trees as these are
one of the largest and
showiest of our native
butterflies.
Figure 12 Bronze Fennel Photo by Just Fruits and Exotics Nursery
Monarchs are the queen of the butterfly race and are most loved in our area
as they migrate through. We’re all facing the loss of this beautiful butterfly
due to the loss of native larval food source plants.
Planting a few tropical milkweeds in your garden each year will help this
beautiful butterfly survive.
So the next time your favorite plant gets munched on, stop and check out
what’s eating your plant. Not all bugs are bad, in fact most bugs are good,
and the one eating your plant may just be a beautiful baby butterfly.
Figure 14 Fourth
instar larva of the
monarch butterfly,
Danaus plexippus
Linnaeus, Gainesville,
Florida. Photograph
by Andrei Sourakov,
Florida Museum of
Natural History.
Publication Featured
Creatures Monarch
Butterfly
http://entnemdept.uf
l.edu/creatures/bfly/
monarch.htm
Figure 13 Tropical Milkweed. Photo taken by Just
Fruits and Exotics
Figure 3 Adult monarch, Danaus plexippus Linnaeus, emerging on Christmas
day in the resident population in North Florida, Gainesville. Photograph by
Andrei Sourakov, Florida Museum of Natural History. Publication Featured
Creatures Monarch Butterfly
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/monarch.htm