By Burt Glover
Over my years of observing butterflies, I’ve been puzzled by certain behaviors and aspects of butterfly life. Only recently have I set out to unravel some of the mysteries. I’ll share a few of them here.
I remember sitting on my back porch a few years back, watching a large tiger swallowtail butterfly zipping around an open area near the tops of the tall trees, his flight path a series of jagged circles traveled over the span of 20, 30, 40 minutes or longer. There were no flowers up there. What was he up to?
Turns out this behavior is related to searching for a mate. Butterflies live only two to three weeks, and their sole purpose is to find a “significant other” to carry on the species. Some males do this by patrolling, which is what I had witnessed. Other butterfly males perch. They sit for hours on a leaf, watching for passers-by. Whenever an object passes — sometimes a bird or other insect — the perching butterfly takes off in chase, trying to get a closer look. Whether by patrolling or by perching, whenever a possible mate is spotted, the male must get close enough to the possible female and capture her scent — pheromones — to assure that she is the correct species and sex.
Sometimes, this chase will end up with both butterflies seemingly dancing through the air as they check each other out. In late summer, I frequently see the beautiful, yellow sulphur butterflies engaged in this dance -– rising, falling and circling together as they travel across the landscape. For those who layer larger meanings into such things, there is Ezra Pound’s “The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter,” a poem my sister has suggested I include in discussion of the paired yellow butterflies.
Throughout the years, I’ve noticed butterflies gathering in places I would not expect them to be — around dead animals, piles of animal poop, rotting garbage. I’ve seen them gather by seemingly hundreds on the sandy banks of a small stream. Some are even attracted to sweaty human arms. Turns out that these behaviors are related mostly to feeding. Some butterflies do not eat, relying on nutrients gained in their caterpillar phase to carry them through their life cycle. Other butterflies do eat, and they do so from a variety of sources. Flower nectar, tree sap and the juices of fallen fruit provide sugar energy, allowing them to live longer.
The unexpected sources — sweaty arms, stream banks, etc. — provide them with the minerals and/or amino acids needed for nutrition, and even for reproductive success. Many butterflies are especially attracted to, and will gather around, fermented fruits and sap. It is not known if they actually get drunk, but they are usually quite easy to walk up to and pick up after imbibing from these sources.
Another aspect I’ve wondered about is the purpose for the beautiful varieties of colors and patterns on butterfly wings. Below is a gallery of some favorite photos from my mother’s flower gardens and travels around the state. Their coloration, it turns out, serves many purposes. Most importantly, it helps them to visually identify potential mates. The most magnificent colors usually serve as warning signs to potential predators: “Don’t eat me! I taste bad, or I will make you sick!”
Eye spots on their wings, when suddenly exposed, will startle or deter predators, giving the butterfly time to quickly escape. Bright splashes of color on the rear part of the wings draw attention away from their heads. Predators snatch at these brightly colored spots; the butterflies are able to escape with only a small amount of wing missing. Many butterflies, such as the mallow-scrub hairstreak/eastern tailed blue/Miami blue (the jury’s still out) in the photo below, taken aside a salt marsh on Edisto Island, sport more subdued patterns which serve as camouflage.
I remember a newspaper article some years back about a local woman who worked downtown and had made friends with a buckeye butterfly. For weeks, it followed her about town, refusing her efforts to set it free. I have since seen Youtube videos of other such stories. Is it possible to befriend a butterfly?
Butterflies will surely flock to you if you landscape your yard with native host plants and trees that feed the caterpillars, which metamorphose into butterflies. By selecting particular species of plants, you will provide the habitat required for certain butterflies — and moths! Be prepared to to embrace the sight of half-eaten leaves as a good thing!
Of course, it goes without saying that herbicides and pesticides are to be avoided. This includes the Bacillus thuringensis, a commonly used organic pesticide that is unfortunately fatal to beneficial caterpillars. Also to be avoided are the systemic and persistent neonicotinoid pesticides that are routinely applied to the soils and plants from many commercial growers and nurseries.
In addition to food for the larva, you’ll want to provide brightly-colored and scented flowers for nectar-seeking butterflies. You may also be able to draw butterflies by placing over-ripe fruit in the yard — or on the compost heap, which is another favorite spot for butterflies. They will also be drawn to horse poop, deer urine, and other myriad animal excrements. Remember, too, those sweetly-scented white night blooming flowers such as white phlox, moonflowers, and datura, that draw moths.
Most yards will, of course, be visited by butterflies and moths with little to no effort on our part, but paying attention to what attracts them can make the difference between a random few and a dazzling diversity of wings. Too, in a world increasingly challenged for hospitable habitat for butterflies and they’re young, it’s a kindness.
Contributor Burt Glover became an accidental naturalist during his earliest childhood days exploring the dirt roads, backyards, polo field and barns of the Magnolia-Knox-Mead neighborhood of 1950s Aiken. Birds are his first love, and he can identify an impressive range by song alone. He asserts that he is an observer, not an expert, on the topics of his writings, which range from birds, box turtles, frogs and foraging, to wasps, weeds, weather and beyond.