What’s Flying? - February

Well, we’ve certainly entered the doldrums of the year, butterfly-wise. We’re not necessarily complaining, though – for many people around the country, just getting to see butterflies in the garden in February is a treat. And while our variety is low, the numbers are still reasonably high, especially of certain species. Here’s what you can expect to see in the BioWorks gardens and around Central Florida over the next few weeks:

• Gulf Fritillary
• Long Tailed Skipper
• Cloudless Sulphur
• Blues
• Monarch
• White Peacock
• Orange Barred Sulphur
• Sleepy Orange
• Tropical Checker Spot
• Barred Yellow
• Zebra Longwing

Notes from the Field:

• This month, we’ll be on the lookout for late winter/early spring species like Red Admirals, Common Buckeyes, and Whites. We’re also keeping an eye out for Black Swallowtails and Tiger Swallowtails.
• White Peacocks are surprisingly common for this time of year, but it’s been an unusually warm winter. With only one hard freeze taking place almost a month ago, this winter has had above-average temperatures many days. This is allowing semi-tropical species like the White Peacocks to remain in the area rather than temporarily moving south.
• Our caterpillar-rearing lab is a little empty right now, too, but we’ve had monarchs, gulf fritillaries, long-tailed and Dorantes skippers, and sulphurs right through the coldest days. Soon our numbers will start to rise as we begin locating and raising spring species.

A Visit to the Butterfly Rainforest in Gainesville

We’re very proud of what we do here at BioWorks. We raise native Florida species from egg to adult on their natural food sources, demonstrating the full life cycle of Central Florida’s butterflies and moths to MOSI visitors. This educational aspect is especially important to us, and we love knowing that we often send people home with a desire to recreate what they’ve seen here in their own backyards.

That being said, we also have great admiration for the other butterfly exhibits here in Florida. Many of them display amazing butterfly species from around the world – species Florida residents just can’t see in their own yards. Last week, we paid a visit to the Butterfly Rainforest in Gainesville to meet with the man who runs the show. We used the time to exchange ideas, learn new things, and just generally admire the gorgeous butterflies.

The Butterfly Rainforest is part of the Florida Museum of Natural History, located on the University of Florida campus. The exhibit is 6,400 square feet (many times larger than BioWorks!) and contains hundreds of butterflies from around the world. (You can learn more by visiting their website.) The album below is just a brief sampling of the butterflies and other wildlife we saw while we were there – click through to enjoy amazing butterflies from Costa Rica, the Philippines, and more!

View Full Album

A Pond Pick-Me-Up

In an effort to make our small waterfall pond by the museum front doors easier to upkeep, we have transitioned out all of the annual plantings and have opted for low-care perennials.
Bromeliads: A difficult to plant and narrow strip of soil has been populated with Red Torch Bromeliads (Billbergia pyramidalis). These tough evergreen bromeliads from Brazil need little care and thrive in just about any shady spot.
In the fall, these bromeliads put on a show of crimson blooms that are sure to catch the eye. Planted near this water feature they will also create shelter for the frogs, toads and other small denizens of this water feature.
Calla Lilies: The edge of the pond basin has persistently wet soil and is shady for about three quarters of the day so we were looking for a plant that would be low-maintenance and would thrive in these conditions. It was also important to find a plant species that would be low growing and not block views of the pond.
While wandering through the discount section of a garden center we found  several pots of calla lilies that had been deeply discounted after the holidays. Although the plants looks a bit beaten up, we knew this was a challenge we could handle. We brought the potted plants back to MOSI, divided them up and packed the front edge of the small pond.
Calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) are native to southern Africa where they can be found growing on the banks of waterways and ponds. These tough plants grow from a rhizome which is an underground plant stem that sends out shoots for reproduction. 
Heat tolerant and wet-soil loving, these calla lilies will provide great greenery for the front of the pond, should reproduce readily to fill the small area and will bloom throughout the year. We picked up cultivars with blooms of white, white with a blush of pale pink and a purple that lightens to pink as the flower matures. We hope to add other colors like yellow, red and black in the following years.

Time for Herbs!

Herbs do best in Florida in the cooler seasons, and they positively thrive in late winter and spring. Humans love herbs for cooking, of course, but here at BioWorks we grow several types of herbs just for Eastern Black Swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes). Eastern Blacks host on plants in the Parsley family (Apiaceae), along with Common Rue (Ruta graveolens). Although this time of year you may not see many Eastern Blacks flying, now is the time to establish a healthy herb garden to support them when they’re around. Most herbs are easy to grow from seed, and if you start now, you’ll be in good shape when the Eastern Blacks arrive later in the spring.

Here at BioWorks, we grow parsley, dill, and fennel for our caterpillars to enjoy. Curly parsley especially has become popular in recent years for ornamental growth as well as herb gardens – during last year’s Epcot Flower and & Garden Festival, enormous planters of curly parsley made great impact with their fresh green color and scent. Flat Italian parsley works just as well for the caterpillars though, so there’s no need to be picky on their account.

Dill and Fennel are also great hosts. We’ve had a great deal of luck with Fennel especially – it tends to re-seed and even re-grow from the base far better than dill or parsley. It makes a nice ornamental plant as well, with its tall feathery growth. Plant it at the back of a garden for a backdrop of delicate green, or in a sensory garden to enjoy the licorice smell.

We also use Common Rue as a host plant for Eastern Black caterpillars. Rue has its benefits and its drawbacks – it grows fairly readily and is used by both Eastern Blacks and Giant Swallowtails (Papilio cresphontes). However, it has a fairly unpleasant smell and can cause skin rashes for some. Grow it at your own risk!

Whichever herbs you choose for your Eastern Blacks, here are some growing tips for Central Florida, based on our own trial and error:

• Though herbs are generally said to do best in sunny spots, ours seem to do best in partial shade. This allows them to thrive a few extra weeks when the hot part of summer arrives.
• Herbs do need regular water. In dry times of the year, like winter and spring, you’ll need to provide some supplemental water to help them do their best.
• When herbs begin to produce seed heads (called “bolting”), you should snip these off to encourage the plant to continue leaf production rather than put all their energy into seed production. If you want to collect seed, allow one or two seed heads to develop.

NOTE: We know that some folks may actually consider Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars to be pests, rather than welcome visitors. If you’re having trouble with them, consider setting aside a few plants just for the caterpillars. You can move any new caterpillars to these plants when you find them, saving the rest of the plants for yourself.

Host Plants for Cool-Weather Butterflies

The cooler weather of late winter and early spring brings different butterflies to Central Florida as they make their way back north for the summer. You can expect to see most of these species appear by mid-February and linger until our temperatures really start to heat up in June. These butterflies will stay in your area longer if you provide appropriate host plants on which they can lay their eggs. Plan now to encourage these winter and spring visitors by including the following in your gardens in the months ahead:

Common Buckeyes (Junonia coenia) host on plants in several families including including snapdragon (Antirrhinum), toadflax (Linaria), plantains (Plantago), and acanthus. In Central Florida, they’re commonly found on yard weeds like Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), along with native wildflowers like Blue toadflax (Linaria canadensis) and Carolina Wild Petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis).

Red Admirals (Vanessa atalanta) host on plants in the Nettle family (Urticaceae). This can make their host plants fairly unpleasant to humans, since it includes species like Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica), a fairly common and rather painful weed to encounter. Fortunately, they also host well on harmless plants like False Nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica) and Florida Pellitory (Parietaria floridana). False nettle can often be found at native plant nurseries and definitely has a place in a native wildlife garden. It re-seeds readily but not so badly as to be a nuisance. Pellitory grows in most lawns, and if you learn to identify it, you can leave a patch for Red Admirals to use during the spring.

The Whites (Subfamily Pierinae),including the Cabbage White, Great Southern White, Checkered White, and Great Florida White host on a wide variety of plants in the Mustard family (Brassicaceae). This can include cabbage and collard greens, along with more decorative plants like Spider Flower (Cleome). A more weedy host is Peppergrass (Lepidium virginicum), which can be found in most yards. Consider leaving a patch for the whites to enjoy throughout spring.

Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui) and American Ladies (Vanessa virginiensis) have a very wide variety of host plants, unusually so for a butterfly species. More than 100 different host plants have been noted. In Central Florida, we often find them on the common yard weed cudweed (Gnaphalium pensylvanicum), but they’ll also consume asters, mallows, and various legumes. American Ladies are also said to host on ironweed and artemesia.

 

Of course, don’t forget to continue growing host plants for butterflies we see in Central Florida year-round, including milkweed (Asclepias spp.) for monarchs, passionvine (Passiflora spp.) for Gulf Fritillaries, and cassia for sulphurs.

Cool Weather Nectar Plants

Our first hard freeze has come and gone here at BioWorks, and we’re hoping it will be the last. The weather wasn’t too severe, so anything that was sheltered beneath trees or near buildings generally did fine, as did those plants better adapted to colder weather. We did have some damage to plants out in the open, including lantana, blue daze, and pentas.

So, it’s time to start thinking about replanting, and at this time of year we’ll be focusing on plants that thrive during cooler weather, especially those that provide nectar for butterflies, since there are still plenty of them around. Here are five great cool-weather nectar plants to keep you going from now until June.

Trailing Bacopa (Sutera cordata) – Not to be confused with the wetlands plant Bacopa monnieri, this cool-weather annual thrives in Florida’s winter and spring weather. It looks especially nice in hanging baskets due to its trailing growth habit. It’s available in white and lavender.

 

 

 

Petunia (Petunia × hybrida): Although the deep flowers of petunias aren’t accessible to smaller butterflies, you’ll often see sulphur butterflies stopping by for a sip. Petunias are available in a wide variety of colors and growth habits.

 

 

 

Tampa Vervain (Glandularia tampensis): This outstanding Florida native wildflower has finally started getting the attention it deserves in recent years. It’s endangered in the wild, found in only a few coastal counties in Central Florida, but growers are making it available for gardeners again. It will thrive in your garden from now till the heat of summer, so if you see it, snap it up!

 

Verbena (Verbena spp.): Though verbenas are often marketing as “great for heat”, we find they do much better in the winter and spring garden here in Florida. They come in an incredibly wide variety of colors and growth habits.

 

 

Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima): Ah, the sweet scent of alyssum! It draws bees and tiny butterflies throughout the spring. White and purple are common colors, but there’s a gorgeous mix called ‘Pastel Carpet’ too.

 

 

What other cool weather annuals do you plant in your Central Florida garden for wintertime butterflies? Did we miss one of your favorites? Tell us in the comments!

30 Volunteers and a Whole Lotta Mulch

On Friday, January 6, we had a fantastic group of volunteers from the University of South Florida’s Residence Life program spend the morning in the Historic Tree Grove. With shovels, rakes, and a wheelbarrow brigade, these enthusiastic students spread 17 cubic yards of pine bark mulch, improving the look of the wintertime garden. We’re so thankful to them for the gift of their time and efforts!

View Full Album

If your volunteer group is interested in joining us for a day in the gardens, email kristeng@mosi.org or jill.staake@mosi.org.

Butterflies of Florida – A Project Noah Mission

A few months ago, we told you about Project Noah, a citizen science project dedicated to documenting Earth’s organisms wherever and whenever they’re found. The tech-friendly project is somewhat of an addiction for us around here, so we were thrilled recently when Project Noah allowed users to begin creating their own “missions” on the site.

A Project Noah mission is a way to gather more specific data. For instance, one group uses Project Noah to track information on pollinator species in the New York City area. Another mission tracks rare color morphs of species around the world. There are dozens of missions now, both global and local, for Project Noah spotters to contribute to.

On that note, we’re pleased to announce that there is now a Butterflies of Florida mission on Project Noah. This is a great place to post your pictures of Florida Lepidoptera in all its life stages, from egg to caterpillar, chrysalis to adult form. And the great thing is, you don’t even have to be sure of the identity of your organism! As long as you spotted it in Florida, add the picture to our mission and we’ll try to help you ID it.

We hope you’ll drop by Project Noah and join our mission. We look forward to seeing which butterflies you’re spotting in your corner of the Sunshine State!

FAQ: Florida Butterflies and Caterpillars in Cold Weather

It’s January, and that means its time for Central Florida to expect a cold snap or two. We get a lot of questions this time of year about how the butterflies and caterpillars handle the cold weather, so we’ve rounded up a few of the most commonly asked and provided the answers below.

Should I “rescue” the caterpillars in my garden if we’re expecting a frost or freeze?
If the freezing temperatures will only last for a couple of nights or so, there’s no need to worry about the caterpillars in your garden. Caterpillars, like all insects, are pokilotherms, which essentially means that their body temperature is variable. When the temperature drops for a short period of time, insects enter torpor, a state of almost complete inactivity. Their circulatory and respiratory systems slow down dramatically, and they remain that way until the temperature rises again. Many caterpillars will also seek shelter close to the ground, where the temperature is warmer. Click here to learn more about torpor.

Rather than worrying about the caterpillars, you should take action to protect their host plants. Many are cold-sensitive, and if they die back during a freeze, the caterpillars will have nothing to eat when the temperature returns to normal - and then they will die. Take some time to throw an old sheet over your milkweed, passionvine, and other host plants when freezing temperatures are predicted.

How do butterflies handle the cold?
Short periods of freezing temperatures (or really any temperature below 55 degrees F or so) cause butterflies to react in the same way caterpillars do. In the Flight Encounter on a cold morning, butterflies can be found hanging dormant from nearly every surface. As the sun emerges and temperatures rise, butterflies begin to warm their bodies in several ways. The most important is sunshine: butterflies will spread their wings and absorb solar radiation. Their efficient bodies can use this energy to raise their body temperature many degrees above the air temperature. When they need a little extra help, butterflies – like humans – can shiver their way up a few extra degrees. Click here to see video of a monarch “shivering” on a cool morning.

Butterflies will remain sluggish and incapable of flight until their body temperatures reach about 80 degrees. If you come across a butterfly basking in the sun on a cold morning, resist the urge to pick it up or move it to a “warmer” location. You can damage the butterfly’s wings and do more harm than good. However, this is a fantastic time to take some good close-up pictures of the butterfly, since it’s unlikely to take off and destroy your shot!

 This gorgeous shot of a Queen was taken on a 60 degree morning
as the butterfly basked in the sun and ignored me completely.

Do butterflies in Florida migrate?
Yes and no. Most of our monarchs are resident year-round, and do not undertake the massive migration to Mexico many people are familiar with. Other butterflies actually migrate to Florida, like the Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia). And some butterflies undertake short migrations within the state – tropical species like White Peacocks (Anartia jatrophaeis) and Polydamas Swallowtails (Battus polydamas) spend their winters in the more southern parts of the state where freezes are less likely to occur.

If butterflies are in Central Florida year-round, why don’t I see them as often in cooler months?
The answer to that is most likely related to plants and not the butterflies themselves. Like any living creature, butterflies have to move around to find food. Most butterflies drink nectar from plants, and nectar plants can be sensitive to cold temperatures. If the nectar plants in your garden die back or stop producing flowers, you won’t see butterflies in your yard either. However, almost as soon as you add these plants back to your garden, the butterflies will return.

When we suffered the devastating week-long freeze of 2010, all of the nectar plants in my own yard at home were destroyed. The first warm-ish day after, I was at the local nursery, stocking up on cool-weather nectar plants like Tampa Verbain (Glandularia tampensis) and Trailing Bacopa (Sutera cordata). Within less than an hour after planting these in my yard, Gulf Fritillaries were already stopping by to feed.

The host plants in my yard all died, but I still have some caterpillars. How can I help them?
If you can find appropriate host plants at your local nursery, you can buy them and move the caterpillars to them. However, be aware that most nurseries spray plants with pesticides to keep them free of insect damage before selling. You can try washing them well first, but some or all of the caterpillars may still die. Since they’ll probably die anyway without host plants in your garden, this option might be worth a try.

If you’re close to a local butterfly garden, give them a call and ask if any of their host plants survived and if they’d be willing to have you bring your caterpillars to their garden. Here at BioWorks, we receive several calls each winter from folks wanting to know if we can help their caterpillars. If we have appropriate host plants, we’re happy to have them drop off their caterpillars to be raised in our lab and then released as butterflies in the Flight Encounter. Check our Facebook page for contact info.

What’s Flying? – January

Winter is here, and this year’s warm weather (today's chill notwithstanding!) is keeping butterflies abundant in the gardens. While diversity has dropped, numbers remain high, and as long as we avoid a killing freeze to our nectar plants, we can expect to see lots of butterflies, including the following species:

• Gulf Fritillary
  
• Monarch
• Long Tailed Skipper
• Fiery Skipper
• Duskywing
• Blues
• Tropical Checker Spot
• Barred Yellow
• Cloudless Sulphur
  
• Orange Barred Sulphur
  
• Sleepy Orange
  
• Zebra Longwing

Notes from the Field:

• After a chilly night, the first butterflies seen as the morning warms up are almost always Gulf Fritillaries and Long-Tailed Skippers. On all but the coldest days, these species are always flying in the gardens.
• Butterflies require a body temperature of about 80 degrees before they can fly, but that doesn’t mean the outside temperature has to be that warm. Butterflies have many ways to warm their bodies on cooler days, including basking in the sun and “shivering”, which allow them to fly when temperatures are as low as 60 degrees – as long as the sun is out. Learn more here.

Up Close and Personal – The Answers!

The other day, we challenged you to identify three Florida native species from small fragments of photos. As promised, here are the answers!

#1 – Giant Swallowtail Butterfly

#2 – Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillar

#3 – Partridge Pea

Did you enjoy this little test of your skills? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll make this a regular feature here on the blog!

Up Close and Personal

Here’s a little fun for your holiday week… can you indentify these organisms from the partial photos shown here? All are native to Florida and raised here at the MOSI BioWorks Butterfly Garden. Leave your guesses in the comments below and come back later this week for the answers!

#1

#2

#3

Warm Holiday Wishes

Happy Holidays from the butterflies, caterpillars, and staff here at MOSI BioWorks. We hope you’ll plan to drop by and see us in the new year!

(Poinsettia as a nectar plant? You bet! Click here to learn more.)

The Pines of Florida: Non- Natives

In addition to all of our cool native pine trees, there are some non-natives that have been planted in Florida.

Some of these species don’t prove very hearty in Florida and our seasonal rain and dry periods can be very difficult for pines that dwell best in moist soil. Most of these are more ‘Christmas tree’ species that have been brought to the state as many of our pines aren’t the sort you hang ornaments on whilst drinking eggnog.

Additionally, a few species from the south Pacific have been given the name of ‘pine’ but they aren’t actually pines at all.

The Non-Natives

Eastern White Pine ( Pinus strobu) is a North American native tree, but  the natural range of this species only extends south to northern Georgia. This species is both long lived with some trees approaching 500 years of age and also very tall with individual trees reaching heights of 160 to 188 feet in height. The photo at the right is from 1 1902 article on pests of white pine and illustrates an Imperial Moth caterpillar eating a needle of this pine.

Virginia Pine ( Pinus virginiana) has a native range from Long Island south into Alabama and west to Tennessee. This species is one of the most often used choices for Christmas trees.

Japanese Black Pine ( Pinus thumbergiana) is native to Japan and is both pollution and salt tolerant. This species can be artfully pruned or trained into growth habits or even kept potted and pruned as a bonsai tree

The Non-Native Non-Pines

Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria heterophylla) Native to the southern Pacific Norfolk Island which lies to the east of Australia, this tree is often sold as a potted table-top ‘Christmas Tree’. Norfolk Island pines actually aren’t related to pines and instead are more closely related to the odd  evergreen Monkey Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) and Bunya-Bunya tree (Araucaria bidwillii)

Australian pine (Casuarina equisetifolia) is a fast growing and salt tolerant tree native to southern Asia south to northern Australia. The Australian Pine was one of the many quick growing species planted in the Florida land boom after WWII that have caused extensive trouble to the native Florida ecosystems. These trees are prone to blowing over in high winds and also do not tolerate fire well at all.  This species is considered a Category 1 invasive species in Florida and sale, trade or planting of this species is prohibited.

Florida Native Pines

For those who celebrate Christmas, one of the most important symbols of the season is the pine tree. Decorating an evergreen tree for Christmas festivities can be traced back as far as the 15th century, when revelers in Livonia danced around a spruce tree in the town square. Nearly six hundred years later, evergreens are still found in millions of homes around the world this time of year.

Florida has seven native species of pine, but most of them aren’t generally considered suitable for use as traditional Christmas trees due to their size and shape. The one exception is the Sand Pine (Pinus claus), which can be coaxed into the traditional pyramid shape if pruned properly as it grows, according to the Florida Christmas Tree Association. Sometimes called Scrub Pine, this tree grows well in sandy soils and has a strong root system that helps to prevent erosion. It’s generally found from Central Florida north.

Another common Florida native pine is the Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii and its South Florida sub-species (Pinus elliottii var. densa). Few would think of using this tall, spindly tree as a holiday decoration, but the quick growth of this tree make it important to the lumber industry. These trees grow to maturity in about 30 years, and younger trees have value as pulpwood. In the past, the trees were an important source of resin and sap. Today, this could be considered Florida’s most important pine, with a huge economic value (the picture to the left shows a Slash Pine plantation) – but also a huge environmental value; the fast growth habit makes it excellent for restoration of natural habitats.

Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) is similar in appearance to Slash Pine, and it is the most commercially important species in the southeastern United States. It grows as far north as New Jersey and reseeds so quickly as to be invasive in farming communities. You can tell the two species apart here in Florida by the location – loblolly pines prefer drier soil, while slash pines love moist areas – and by the number of needles, cones, and bark (learn more here).

Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) was historically important to the logging industry, but the huge stands of this slow-growing tree that once dominated the state have now been greatly reduced. This pine takes up to 150 years to reach its mature size (compare to Slash Pine at only 30 years) and did not rebound from the heavy logging of the previous century. It forms an important part of the eco-system, thriving on periodic wildfires and providing habitat for wildlife. In fact, the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) is so dependent on Longleaf Pine forests that the decline of the tree has meant the decline of the bird species – it’s now considered threatened.

Three of Florida’s native pine species are found only in the northern part of the state. Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata) is found in Florida only in the panhandle region. It prefers moist, fertile soils and sunny spots. Pond Pine (Pinus serotina) also loves the wetlands. However, its botanical name derives from the fact that Pond Pine also thrives on fire. In fact, it takes the heat from a wildfire to force open the cones of this tree. As wildfires and human habitation don’t generally go hand in hand, controlled burns will probably be required to help this species survive going forward. Pond Pine is found from Gainesville north.

Spruce Pine ( Pinus glabra) is also found from the Gainesville area north and west through the panhandle. This species prefer the shade of taller trees nearby and actually grows poorly in full sun. It’s a pine of the wetlands, thriving in poorly drained or very wet soil. Don’t confuse it with the separate evergreen genus of spruce trees (Picea), which includes the popular Christmas tree species Blue Spruce (Picea pungens).