With winter’s cold snaps behind us, butterfly numbers and diversity will start to increase dramatically in the garden this month. Here are species we’re seeing and others to start looking for:
Gulf Fritillary
- Long Tailed Skipper
- Cloudless Sulphur
- Blues
- Monarch
- White Peacock
- Orange Barred Sulphur
- Sleepy Orange
- Tropical Checker Spot
- Barred Yellow
- Zebra Longwing
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
- Giant Swallowtail
- Red Admiral
- Buckeye
- Whites
Notes From the Field:
- When the Red Admirals start to appear, we start leaving patches of Florida Pellitory (Parietaria floridana) in the flower beds rather than pulling them as weeds. This is a common host plant for this species, and much easier on caterpillar keepers than one of their other favorites, Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica).
- Hummingbirds will also begin migration through our area this month, so it’s a good time to fill sugar water feeders. Also watch Firebush and Coral Honeysuckle, two of their favorite native plants for nectar.
THANKS so much!! my azaleas are blooming right now and i have been snapping away. i get confused with IDing some...the difference between the Spicebush, Eastern Black...Red spotted purple...Palamedes...ooooh...i've been googling for images for too long now, but i'm not so sure people label their pic's correctly!
ReplyDeletethanks!