Natural Highlights: Brushfoot Butterflies

Late summer is a wonderful season for observing butterflies. Goldenrod, boneset, blue mistflower and other wild members of the aster family begin to bloom, attracting butterflies of all kinds, which seek nectar from the flowers and help to pollinate them in the process.  The Monarch Butterfly is perhaps the most famous butterfly, at least in North America. (Please sign up for our upcoming Sept. 25^th webinar with Monarch Joint Venture for an update on its status). This big orange, black and white butterfly belongs to the Brushfoot Family (Nymphalidae) within the Insect Order Lepidoptera. Take a closer look at a Monarch and you will see what it has in common with other Brushfoots:  two much-reduced furry front legs adapted for smelling, leaving only four legs to use for walking.  The Brushfoot Family is otherwise quite diverse, some members large and brightly colored, others small and obscure.  

Here are four other Brushfoot Family members frequently encountered by Midsouth residents. All of them can be seen nectaring on garden flowers, along with the larger and showier swallowtails and other butterflies.  These beautiful insects find gardens which also offer native host plants on which to lay their eggs even more attractive.

The Gulf Fritillary seeks out purple or yellow passion vine as its host plant. Adults are orange above with silvery patches on their underwings.  The spiky orange and black caterpillars are harmless to people, but toxic to birds via the chemical protection provided by passion vine leaves.

Look for a “string of pearls” on a small, yellow-orange butterfly marked with black.  If you can make out the tiny necklace-like connected circles near the head, you’re probably looking at a Pearl Crescent.  This butterfly lays eggs on native asters which include the New England Aster and Fragrant Aster planted in many gardens.

The colors of the Common Buckeye are simply stunning to human observers, and its distinctive “eyespots” serve as a deterrent to predators which might mistake them for the eyes of a snake or other animal.  This butterfly lays its eggs on a variety of plants including common plantain, which most gardeners consider a weed. The Common Buckeye provides one reason to let a bit of plantain grow somewhere.

False nettle, another “weed,” is one of the host plants for the Red Admiral, so named because of the bright red epaulets on its wings. This butterfly is especially drawn to moist habitats and can be seen on paddle trips through Wolf River wetlands where wild nettles are abundant. Red Admirals will also grace flower gardens in town, even those that have purged every nettle in the yard. Fortunately, there enough habitats with thriving nettle populations – along the Wolf River Greenway, for example - to support Red Admiral caterpillars.

For more butterfly information, we suggest the following links:

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/region/tennessee

https://naba.org/

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