Butterflies Are Important to Agriculture
Like most agricultural states, Oklahoma relies on butterflies and other insects for pollination. Drought, wildfires, climate change and humans have affected butterfly ecosystems in some places (butterflies that prefer swampy areas have been particularly affected). The effect of moth damage can be observed when crops decline due to insufficient pollination.
Although they are delicate in shape, butterflies are flexible. When the water supply dries up, they go to flower gardens.
Not only do they enjoy the nectar provided by your flowers, they can rehydrate by drinking water from bird baths, moist soil, and special ponds designed for watering butterflies. By maintaining a water supply and native wildflowers in your garden, humans can help butterflies maintain their rightful place in nature’s cycle.
From early spring to late fall, Oklahoma residents can enjoy a variety of butterflies. If you have a small dish filled with wet sand and gravel, you may have the privilege of watching a large flock of resplendent males drinking.
Watching butterflies drink, eat and complete their life cycle is not only a relaxing interaction with nature, but also a wonderful educational opportunity for children.
Here are a few of the many wonderful butterflies that Oklahoma has to offer, as well as some interesting facts about each.
1-Black Swallowtail
Papilio polyxenes
It’s Oklahoma’s state butterfly, and it’s not hard to see why. The black swallowtail is a shiny black butterfly with yellow, orange, or blue spots. Elegant yet shiny at the same time. They are also very large and easy to identify for novice butterfly watchers.
They prefer to feed and lay eggs on members of the carrot family, such as fennel, dill and parsley, so you may find them sitting on your grass beds. Add some of these delicious plant favorites to your flower bed to attract swallowtails as well as other species. They also love the Queen Anne’s lace and row.
Boy or Girl?
The male black swallowtail will have a yellow stripe near the edge of the wings. The female has a blue stripe on her back.
2-Monarch
Danaus plexippus
It is perhaps one of the most famous and easily recognizable butterflies. The monarch is actually a royal specimen, with orange-and-black-striped wings that can reach an impressive 4 inches in length.
They are social and stay in groups at night. These butterflies store chemicals known as cardiac glycosides in their bodies, making them an unattractive snack for predators. They find these chemicals in some of their favorite plants, such as milkweed.
Other plants that attract larvae and adults are ironweed, lantana, red clover, goldenrod, and lilacs. They love open, sunny gardens where they can enjoy the warm sunshine.
Boy or Girl Monarch?
The female’s wings are much darker. Males have yellow-orange spots on each hind wing.
Flocking to Bermuda
In addition, Monarch are becoming more popular in Bermuda, making long journeys across the Atlantic Ocean to enjoy the many milkweeds that Bermuda has to offer. Now that’s unbelievable!
3-Viceroy
Limenitis archippus
Like the monarch butterfly, the monarch butterfly is a splash of bright orange color on the greenery in your garden or yard. Viceroys have a beautiful tiger stripe pattern on their wings and are one of the most common butterflies featured in coloring books or artwork. They are also not very attractive to predators, which means you can see them more often than other specimens when viewing butterflies.
It is Kentucky’s state butterfly but is also abundant throughout the state. It is very similar to a king but can be distinguished by a dark line running down its wings. He is much smaller than the king.
These beauties prefer moist environments and are often seen around swampy areas and lakes. It feeds mostly on trees, preferring cottonwoods and willows. Their eggs can also be found on apple trees and poplar trees. Little ones like goldenrod, butterfly bush, and decaying matter.
4-Red-Spotted Purple
Limenitis arthemis astyanax
The red-spotted purple is velvety black with a bluish tinge on the wings. It has a series of small red dots on the outer edges of its wings. The exotic color, 4-inch wingspan, and beautiful appearance make the red-spotted purple butterfly one of the most beautiful butterflies to see in Oklahoma.
Males and females are similar in color but females are slightly larger. Host plants for the larvae are wild cherry trees as well as aspen and willow. Adult butterflies visit flowers only occasionally. Instead they prefer rotting fruit, carrion and sap. It only takes a few hours for an egg to become a butterfly, and the adult will only live 4-5 days.
5-Great Spangled Fritillary
Speyeria cybele
This gorgeous butterfly resembles a burst of sunlight, and its pale orange color is reminiscent of the black-eyed Susan that adults love to sip on. They like open, sunny places near water sources and eat a variety of flowers, such as violets, red clover, black-eyed tulips, verbena, thistles, coneflowers, and milkweed. The caterpillars feed only on wild violets.
Females mate in the early summer months, then hide until it is time to lay eggs in late summer and early fall. By this time, most of the males have died, living only long enough to enjoy the mating months.
6-Red Admiral
Vanessa atalanta
Red Admirals are known not only for their brilliant black and red wing patterns, but also for their social behavior. They are very friendly butterflies and are not afraid of people, sometimes perching on people’s hands, shoulders or heads.
Adult butterflies are attracted to red clover, milkweed, mint, and clover. They also love spoiled fruits and juices. They are excellent candidates for butterfly feeders and ponds.
Red Admirals can be bred indoors by capturing a female Admiral and surrounding her with a host plant (stinging nettle) to lay her eggs. Then you can share in the joy of watching the butterfly’s life cycle unfold, a great science project for kids and adults alike.
Boy or Girl?
Males are very territorial and can be seen circling erratically up to thirty times daily to keep other males away from their mating area.
7-Painted Lady
Vanessa cardui
Another bright orange and black butterfly, the Painted Lady (and I think the Painted Gentleman) is the most popular butterfly, living on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. They are not very picky about where they defecate. They can be found in forests, pastures, squares, parks and open spaces.
Their life span is only two weeks and they spend most of it around their favorite flowers: clover and sweet thistle. They also enjoy daisies, elms, black-eyed irises and English bananas. Females lay their eggs on thistles, black cherries, or marshmallows, and after the larvae hatch, they feed on these plants, as well as mallow and sunflowers. Caterpillars build silky tentacles for shelter in plant leaves.
Dyed females do not migrate in extreme weather patterns. They migrate in large groups, numbering in the millions in some areas, and can travel at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, meaning they usually reach their destination before their cousins.
8-Zebra Swallowtail
Protographium marcellus
Zebra swallowtails are amazing. As the name suggests, they are white with black stripes, a pattern that really stands out among the colorful flowers. They are moisture-loving butterflies that breed in lowlands and swampy areas and can produce three or four broods per year in warmer areas. The first baby will be much larger and will be smaller and lighter in the spring.
Adult butterflies enjoy a variety of flowers as well as decaying fruit, dung, and other natural waste. Flowers they love include lilacs, verbena, blackberries, and milkweed. However, the caterpillars feed only on the pawpaw tree.
9-Reakirt’s Blue
Hemiargus isola
This butterfly may be small in size, but it has some fascinating features. Blue is actually a powdery gray color. The butterfly has black spots on its wings and an “even” mark on its ventral wing, making it easy to identify.
Unlike most butterflies, their caterpillars are born in ant hills, not on plants. The ants take care of the little butterfly until it becomes an adult and can leave the ant hole. During the larval stage, the phlegm secretes a type of nectar that feeds the ants in exchange for their room and food.
Rickert’s bluefish are also very adaptable and feed on a wide range of plants, which helps them survive any changes in their ecosystem. Some plants they love are the pea family and white clover.
10-Pipevine Swallowtail
Battus philenor
A very attractive butterfly with a variety of colors, highlighted by a splash of peacock blue on its hind wings. Under the wings a row of bright orange spots can be seen, and the butterfly’s body is lined with white.
Like some other butterflies, the caterpillars of this species feed on plants that contain toxic chemicals to deter predators. Therefore, many other butterflies mimic the coloration of the pipe vine as a means of defense. This makes identifying them a little harder.
Swallowtails lay their eggs on the organs of the tubular vine, which is the sole food host for the larvae. It is this plant that contains the protective chemicals that caterpillars need to survive predators.
Adults enjoy the large buffet. Plants they will eat include azaleas, milkweed, thistle, honeysuckle, and petunias.
Boy or Girl?
Females will have a row of greenish-white spots on their wings.
How to attract more butterflies to your garden
To attract more butterflies, add these things to your flowers:
Flat stone for sunbathing.
Leafy hedges are like windbreaks.
Butterfly House.
Ponds or small pots filled with wet sand.
Plant butterfly-friendly plants.
Butterfly Garden Flowers
Some great plants to attract butterflies to garden:
- Milkweed
- Rosemary
- Dandelion
- Roses
- Verbena
- Honeysuckle
- Nasturtiums
- Daisies
- Asters
- Clover
