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Butterfly Facts

FAQ's
The Family Butterfly Book - Rick Mikula
How do you say "butterfly"?
Why are they called "butterflies"?
It's Greek to Me  (Guide to pronunciation)
Butterfly Gardening Books
Kids Butterfly Books in The Nature Store
Adult Butterfly Books in The Nature Store
Butterfly & Moth Books for Children

Butterfly I.D.

Checklists
Identification Tools
Glossary
Photo Gallery

Butterfly Resources

Nature Store
 Books, games, kids' stuff, gardening, more

Blogs
 See of a list of butterfly related blogs

Links
 Visit other butterfly websites

butterfly images, pictures of butterfliesButterfly Images
Explore our gallery of beautiful butterfly and moth photos from around the world

Irish Butterfly Stamps

Videos of butterflies and moths as well as other nature subjects - dragonflies, hummingbirds, birds, frogs, and gardening for wildlifeButterfly Videos
Visit our collection of videos from all things butterfly

Butterfly Gardening

Milkweed Plants for Monarch Butterfly Gardens
Butterfly Gardening Books
Butterfly Houses and Hibernation Boxes
Butterfly Plant List
Butterfly Plants for Shady Gardens
Butterfly Plants for Sunny Gardens
Butterfly Plants for the Seashore
Go Organic
Butterfly House Plans
Hibernation Boxes: Do They Work?
Plants for Butterfly Gardens
Gardening Grants
Buddleia - the Butterfly Bush
Converting a Traditional Yard to a Wildlife Habitat
Herb Gardens for Butterflies
Marigolds: Best Varieties for Butterflies
Phlox: A Butterfly and Moth Magnet

butterfly stories, butterfly quotes, butterfly releases

A Butterfly House in Your Garden
Herbs for a Butterfly Garden
Butterfly Garden Plants and Seeds
So You Want to be a Butterfly Farmer
Flowers for Southern Gardens
Ladybug House Plans

Inspirational Stories
Over the years, visitors have sent us a hundreds of wonderful and inspiring stories about how butterflies have touched their lives. Here we share them with you >

We also have a beautiful poem - Butterflies are Beautiful - by Pam Snowball of Australia - a Lupus victim with a facial butterfly rash.

Butterfly Quotes

Live Butterflies for Special Events

Story: The Amazing Metamorphosis of the Butterfly-Boy
An Artist's Journey to Michoacan, Mexico

Butterfly exhibits

butterfly exhibits and houses
Experience butterflies in person at a butterfly exhibit near you! Our list includes butterfly houses and gardens located all around the world.

Butterfly Festivals

butterfly festivals
Find a butterfly celebration near you!

Butterfly eco-tours

Butterfly Eco Tours, butterfly trips
Go on an eco-tour adventure to discover butterflies first-hand!

Help an injured butterfly or moth
Found an injured butterfly?
Find a local butterfly expert to help nurse your butterfly back to health!

Join a Butterfly Count
Volunteers across the world participate in butterfly counts in an effort to monitor migration and populations. What a great way to help butterflies!

Priority Butterflies
Mission Blue Butterfly is one of many species of endangered butterflies and moths
Mission Blue Butterfly - found only in California, U.S.A., the caterpillar feeds only on a few species of lupine.
See more Priority Butterflies >

Support Conservation
Learn how to support these wonderful organizations that are working to conserve butterfly populations.

For Kids

butterfly clipart - free butterfly and moth images
Butterfly Clipart
butterfly coloring pages
Butterfly Coloring Pages
Butterfly Games
Butterfly Games
Butterfly Crafts
Butterfly Crafts
Butterfly Lesson plans, butterfly curriculum
Butterfly Teaching Tools

Butterfly Articles

MONARCH BUTTERFLY ARTICLES & VIDEOS >
MILKWEED PLANT ARTICLES >
OTHER ARTICLES:
Butterfly Life Cycle
Raising Saturniid Moths
Endangered Butterflies of Monterey Bay
The Lovely Luna Moth
Hummingbird Moths
Anglewings: Fast Flyers at Woods' Edge
Tigers on the Wing
Owl Butterflies
The Role of Light in Butterfly Mating
How to Pin Butterflies
Cicadas

butterfly stories, butterfly quotes, butterfly releases

Butterfly Gardening

Butterfly GardeningButterfly gardening has become one of the most popular hobbies today. What could bring more joy than a beautiful butterfly fluttering around your garden?! Here are some tips to make your garden especially butterfly-friendly.

Your first step should be to find out which butterflies are in your area. You can do this by spending some time outdoors with your field guide to see which species are around. You can also check our checklists here.

Plant your butterfly garden in a sunny location (5-6 hours each day), but sheltered from the winds. Butterflies need the sun to warm themselves, but they won't want to feed in an area where they are constantly fighting the wind to stay on the plants. It is also a good idea to place a few flat stones in your sunny location so the butterflies can take a break while warming up.

Butterflies need water just like we do. Keep a mud puddle damp in a sunny location, or fill a bucket with sand and enough water to make the sand moist.

DO NOT USE PESTICIDES IN YOUR GARDEN!
To learn how to garden organically, click here.

Butterflies use two different types of plants - those that provide nectar for the adults to eat (nectar plant), and those that provide food for their offspring (host plant). It is best to find out which plant species are native to your area and plant those rather than exotic species.

Below are list of the more common butterflies with their host and nectar plants.

We've put together good selections of butterfly gardening books and plants and seeds to attract butterflies.

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLAR HOST PLANT BUTTERFLY NECTAR SOURCE
American Painted Lady Everlasting, Daisy, Burdock Aster, Dogbane, Goldenrod, Mallow, Privet, Vetch
American Snout Hackberry Aster, Dogbane, Dogwood, Goldenrod, Pepperbush
Anise Swallowtail Queen Anne's Lace Buddleia, Joe Pye Weed
Baltimore Checkerspot Turtlehead, False Foxglove, Plantain Milkweed, Viburnum, Wild Rose
Black Swallowtail Parsley, Dill, Fennel Aster, Buddleia, Joe Pye Weed, Alfalfa
Clouded Sulphur Clover Goldenrod, Grape Hyacinth, Marigold
Cloudless Sulphur Cassia, Apple, Clover Zinnia, Butterfly Bush, Cosmos, Cushion Mum
Comma Elm, Hops, Nettle Butterfly Bush, Dandelion
Common Buckeye Snapdragon, Loosestrife Carpetweed
Common Checkered Skipper Mallow/Hollyhock Shepherd's needles, Fleabane, Aster, Red Clover
Common Sulphur Vetch Aster, Dogbane, Goldenrod
Common Wood-nymph Purpletop Grass Purple Coneflower
Eastern Pygmy Blue Glasswort Salt Bush
Eastern Tailed Blue Clover, Peas Dogbane
Falcate Orangetip Rock Cress, Mustard Mustard, Strawberry, Chickweed, Violet
Giant Swallowtail Citrus Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia
Gorgone Checkerspot Sunflower Sunflower, Goldenrod
Gray Hairstreak Mallow/Hollyhock, Clover, Alfalfa Thistle, Ice Plant
Great Spangled Fritillary Violet Thiste, Black-eyed Susan, Milkweed, Ironweed
Greater Fritillary Violet Joe Pye Weed
Gulf Fritillary Pentas, Passion-vine Joe Pye Weed
Hackberry Emperor Hackberry Sap, Rotting fruit, Dung, Carrion
Little Glassywing Purpletop Grass Dogbane, Zinnia
Little Yellow Cassia, Clover Clover
Monarch Milkweed Dogbane, Buddleia
Mourning Cloak Willow, Elm, Poplar, Birch, Nettle, Wild Rose Butterfly Bush, Milkweed, Shasta Daisy, Dogbane
Orange Sulphur Vetch. Alfalfa, Clover Alfalfa, Aster, Clover, Verbena
Orange-barred Sulphur Cassia Many plants
Painted Lady Thistle, Daisy, Mallow/Hollyhock, Burdock Aster, Zinnia
Pearl Crescent Aster Dogbane
Pipevine Swallowtail Dutchman's Pipe, Pipevine Buddleia
Polydamus Swallowtail Pipevine Buddleia
Queen Milkweed Milkweed, Beggar-tick, Daisy
Question Mark Hackberry, Elm, Nettle, Basswood Aster, Milkweed, Sweet Pepperbush
Red Admiral Nettle Stonecrop, Clover, Aster, Dandelion, Goldenrod, Mallow
Red-spotted Purple Black Cherry, Willow, Poplar Privet, Poplar
Silver-spotted Skipper Black Locust, Wisteria Dogbane, Privet, Clover, Thistle, Winter Cress
Silvery Checkerspot Sunflower Cosmos, Blanket Flower, Marigold, Phlox, Zinnia
Sleepy Orange Cassia, Clover Blue Porter, Beggar Tick, Aster
Spicebush Swallowtail Spicebush, Sassafras Dogbane, Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia
Spring Azure Dogwood, Viburnum, Blueberry, Spirea, Apple Blackberry, Cherry, Dogwood, Forget-me-not, Holly
Tawny Emperor Hackberry Tree sap, Rotting fruit, Dung, Carrion
Tiger Swallowtail Black Cherry, Birch, Poplar, Willow Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia
Variegated Fritillary Violet, Passion Vine Joe Pye Weed
Viceroy Willow, Poplar, Fruit Trees Thistle, Beggar-tick, Goldenrod, Milkweed
Western Tailed Blue Clover, Peas Legumes
White Admiral Birch, Willow, Poplar, Honeysuckle Aphid Honeydew, Bramble Blossom
Zabulon Skipper Purpletop Grass Blackberry, Vetch, Milkweed, Buttonbush,Thistle
Zebra Longwing Passion-vine Verbena, Lantana, Shepard's Needle
Zebra Swallowtail Pawpaw Dogbane, Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia, Privet, Blueberry

 



Be sure to visit our Nature Store, our Dragonfly Website and our Hummingbird Website,
also our KidLit site of stories, poems, and book reviews written by kids.
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