Saving butterflies: Caterpillars are lowly no longer

In between laying eggs, the black swallowtail goes for the nectar-rich pentas blossoms. Handout TNS

 

By Norman Winter

Tribune News Service

 

At almost every seminar I give, I ask the audience by a show of hands if they are caterpillar friendly. I am delighted to say I sense a real change within the gardening public. The caterpillar, once perhaps considered the enemy of the garden, has now become the recognized reward, and woe to the lizard or bird that picks one off.

Last year I started to realize how important caterpillars had become to the public. I received a phone call from a lady who was in tears. She had Monarch caterpillars, but all of her milkweed had been devoured. She asked almost hysterically if she could bring the caterpillars to us since we had so many milkweeds. At least I thought we had many.

The Giant Swallowtail emerges from the chrysalis. Handout TNS

She showed up with a box containing 100 caterpillars. I slowly walked through the garden. A little milkweed plant got one caterpillar while larger plants were gifted with two or three. It took no time before I had few leaves as well.

This year we had our own similar episode. Despite having several large fennel and a few parsley plants, it seems the “Fertile Myrtle” of Black Swallowtails produced enough eggs and caterpillars to create panic among the staff. The stress led to them to buy more plants in an effort to try to feed all of the hungry mouths.

Our own real test of being caterpillar friendly caught us all by surprise. It involved Improved Meyer Lemon trees in glazed containers outside our new Andrews Visitor and Education Center.

Black swallowtail caterpillars devour fennel. Handout TNS

A couple of things make this caterpillar-friendly test a little more of a challenge.

We got our start as a USDA Plant Introduction Station in 1919. All over the garden are trees, shrubs and bamboo that Frank Meyer, the hero of plant exploration, found and brought back to the country. He is the one who discovered the aforementioned lemon named in his honor. That was just one issue in our true test of being caterpillar friendly.

The second test: These two containers are right at the entrance where every visitor enters the garden. What would they think to see missing leaves or caterpillars, which would no doubt just be worms to many of them?

Our test began beautifully as a giant swallowtail made her visit to the lemons. She would lay an egg or two then drop down to get nectar from some red pentas. Then she would return for a little more egg laying. We saw the eggs, the resulting caterpillars and, in what seemed like such a short amount of time, chrysalis. Every day we would look.

Then the call came over the radio: Norman, you better get over here. As you might have-guessed, a beautiful swallowtail had emerged, a process called enclosure in the lepidoptera world.

All the staff and a few visitors stood in awe as we experienced nature at one of its finest moments. While we were watching, I couldn’t help but think we too had just passed the caterpillar test.

Are you caterpillar friendly? You will have many more butterflies if you are.

Norman Winter is director of the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens at the Historic Bamboo Farm, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/living/home-garden/article45282549.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

 

 

 

How to attract butterflies and other pollinators

New campaign encourages the planting of pollinator-friendly landscapes

Endangered Monarch butterflies are symbol of pollinators’ struggle

Every pot of flowers or flowering herbs helps

 

A swallowtail butterfly visits joe-pye weed. Butterflies, bees, beetles, moths and other insects are critical pollinators, and flower gardens of all sizes will attract them. Marty Ross

 

By Marty Ross

Universal UClick

Butterflies are a wonderful part of a healthy garden. They — and innumerable other insects that pollinate plants — are also ecologically and economically vital, but they are on the decline.

Gardeners can help offset the loss by planting flowers that sustain butterflies and other pollinators. A garden designed with pollinators in mind is as beautiful as any other, and perhaps even more so.

Bumblebees are pollinators, too. These bees are visiting bee balm plants in the Butterfly Habitat Garden. James Gagliardi Smithsonian Gardens

 

Butterflies, moths, bees, beetles, hummingbirds and even bats all are pollinators. Their health and welfare are critical to a healthy and diverse ecosystem, and to the production of one in every three bites of food we take, according to the National Pollinator Garden Network.

The organization has launched an ambitious campaign, the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge, to encourage the planting of pollinator-friendly landscapes to invigorate pollinator populations. The goal is to register one million pollinator gardens, large and small, old and new, across the country.

“If you have four acres, that would be wonderful,” says Matthew Shepherd, communications director for the Xerces Society, the wildlife conservation and protection organization. “But if you have an urban plot, a community garden, or a spot on the balcony of your 10th-floor condo, you can plant flowers,” he says. “You can do that anywhere.”

Monarch butterflies are perhaps all pollinators’ most widely recognized ambassador, and they are among the most endangered. Millions of acres of the natural habitat of this flashy orange-and-black butterfly have been lost to development and to the use of agricultural herbicides. The Monarch Watch program encourages gardeners to plant milkweed, the leaves of these plants are the only food monarch caterpillars eat; the program is among the 25 partners in the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge.

Perhaps the most prominent pollinator garden in the world is the Butterfly Habitat Garden at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History on the Mall in Washington, D.C. The garden was established in 1995, and next year, it will have a new name: the Pollinator Garden.

“A lot of people are fearful or just don’t like insect activity,” says James Gagliardi, lead horticulturist with Smithsonian Gardens. “But it’s very positive. Flowers and fruits are not going to be around without these pollinators.”

A gardener’s role in all this is easy: Plant flowers.

Native plants rub shoulders with non-natives in the Butterfly Habitat Garden. Gagliardi grows native perennials such as goldenrod, which blooms in the fall, and mountain mint, which has silvery leaves and tiny pink flowers, and attracts an abundance of pollinators. He also grows bright annuals, among them zinnias, which are a magnet for butterflies, and Mexican sunflower, a tall plant covered with bright orange flowers — and pollinators — in late summer and fall.

Big sweeps of colorful flowers blooming through the summer are important, but the most effective and successful pollinator gardens have blooms throughout the season. Trees, shrubs and vines also fit into the picture.

“Just by planting one tree, you can really make a difference,” says Peggy Anne Montgomery of American Beauties Native Plants, another partner in the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge. A mighty oak would be great, she says, but so are many small trees.

Montgomery relies as much as possible on native plants, with which North American pollinators are likely to have well-established ecological relationships. She recommends long-blooming native perennial coneflowers, phlox and ironweed. Include butterfly milkweed and ornamental grasses in your pollinator garden, too, she says, creating layered plantings that look rich and full, help hold each other up through summer wind and rain, and provide shelter for insects during the winter.

Annual flowers grown from seed are every gardener’s gateway plants to a colorful and easy pollinator-friendly garden, says Renee Shepherd, owner of the seed company Renee’s Garden. Annual sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias, cleome and alyssum all attract butterflies and other pollinators. Herbs should be part of the mix, she says: Plant plenty of them, let them bloom and see how many pollinators they attract. Shepherd likes cilantro, arugula, basil and chives both for their taste and because they attract so many pollinators. She practices succession planting, so she always has fresh herbs for the kitchen and blooming herbs outside for the pollinators.

Of course, pollinators find their way to vegetable gardens, too. Beans, squash, tomatoes and cucumbers all attract pollinators, but you’ll have more pollinators — and more impressive harvests — in a vegetable garden that includes flowers.

Above all, a pollinator garden is no place for pesticides. “We don’t use them” in the Butterfly Habitat Garden, Gagliardi says. “Our garden is very healthy and very balanced, too.” Visitors might notice holes in the leaves of a few plants, or they may discover curious striped caterpillars on the fennel or dill, “but if you want butterflies, you have to have food sources, and there are going to be holes in the leaves,” Gagliardi says. Instead of fretting over insect damage, get to know the insects. In a pollinator garden, you’ll have plenty to discover. Together with the flowers, these pretty pollinators put on quite a show.

 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/living/home-garden/article35531742.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

 

 

On a Wing and a Prayer: 5 Fascinating Facts about the Monarch Butterfly

By Peter Davis Krahenbuhl     August 22, 2015

 

 

Journey to Mexico’s butterfly sanctuaries and stand among hundreds of millions of monarchs as they complete their remarkable migration. (c) Astrid Frisch
 

Arguably among the most beautiful of all butterfly species, the North American monarch isn’t just another pretty face. It has very interesting characteristics and abilities that none of its cousins across the globe can lay claim to. Here are some amazing facts about this delicate yet incredibly durable and fascinating creature.

1. Frequent flier miles.

In one of the world’s astounding natural animal events each fall, tens of millions of monarch butterflies migrate up to 3000 miles from the Northeastern US and Canada down to their wintering grounds in Central Mexico to escape the frosts of winter. In fact, tagged monarch butterflies have even been found to travel over 250 miles in one day.

The migration is due to the fact that monarchs can’t survive the cold northern winters, unlike other butterflies that can survive as larvae, pupae, or even as adults in some cases. As a result, the monarch is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration, similar to birds.

2. Radar location?

One of the enigmas around this phenomenon is how millions of infant butterflies who have never been to their ancestral breeding grounds return to the very trees that their parents roosted in before they were born.

3. Don’t eat me I taste horrible!

The orange of a monarch butterfly’s wings is a warning color, identifying itself to predators that the butterfly will taste bad or may be toxic.

4. But if you try, I will fly!

A monarch butterfly can flap its wings up to 120 times in a minute when trying to escape a predator. Their flight speed has been measured between 4 and 12 miles per hour but can be much faster if a monarch uses available wind currents that will speed it up considerably.

5. How high is high?

Monarchs know when it is time to migrate south for the winter based on the environmental cues associated with seasonal changes. They then get naturally high using air currents and thermals to travel such incredible distances. In fact, the highest monarch was recorded at 11,000 ft by a glider pilot – that’s over two miles up in the air! Just to put this into perspective, most birds fly below 500 ft, hot air balloons only go up about 200 ft, and even songbird migrations occur in the 2000-4000 ft high range. There’s not really much else going on above 11,000 feet other than Mt. Everest (29,028 ft) and passenger jets (36,000 ft).

You can experience this astounding natural event up close and personally with Nat Hab and WWF, including our Kingdom of the Monarchs tour and our Monarch Butterfly Photo Adventure. 
 

http://goodnature.nathab.com/on-a-wing-and-a-prayer-5-fascinating-facts-about-the-monarch-butterfly/?link=title&utm_campaign=wwf_travelenews&utm_medium=email&utm_source=wwf_travel_email&utm_content=1510t-e

 

 

 

 

Lawn-Less Yard Solutions

By Jeanne Huber, This Old House magazine

 

Photo:  Karen Bussolini

 

Major Curb Appeal

Less lawn can result in outdoor living spaces that demand less of your time and energy—not to mention less water, gas, and electricity. Fall's cooler temperatures make now a good time to set the wheels in motion for a new and improved yard.

Less-lawn solution: If you live where every house flaunts an immaculate, weed-free front lawn, giving up grass entirely might read as an act of rebellion. But you can gradually shift toward a front yard that's more garden than lawn by establishing deep planting beds that curve along the front and sides of the house.

Experiment with designs by laying out garden hose in a gentle curve, then bring out the mower and test to make sure that whatever lawn remains takes a shape that's easy to trim. If you have an in-ground sprinkler system, also factor in the area that individual sprinkler heads spray: Plug heads you don't need, or convert them to supply a water-efficient drip irrigation system for the new planting beds. Your yard will be lushly planted—and easy to maintain—if you add wide borders with low-care perennials and shrubs to the mix.

 

Photo:  Karen Bussolini

 

Outdoor Living and Dining Space

Less-lawn solution: Transform a well-defined area close to the house by trading turf grass for a dry-laid brick patio or a patch of gravel with outdoor furniture. Just be sure to choose permeable paving that allows water to percolate through (not a broad expanse of concrete), so you don't create a parking lot–type yard where rain collects in puddles and storm drains instead of returning to the soil.

Define the space with a low wall, a perimeter of planting beds, or a collection of container plantings. Create an inviting path from one area of the yard to another with flagstone pavers: By tucking spreading, tread-friendly groundcovers like creeping thyme into the crevices, you'll create a rock-garden feeling and cut down on watering

 

Photo:  Keller & Keller

 

Play Areas for Kids to Explore

Less-lawn solution: For many kids today, what's missing from their lives isn't a play structure or a sports field (parks and after-school activities offer plenty of that), but the chance for a one-on-one connection with nature. In that sense, a small flower or vegetable garden or, for older kids, a backyard pond that supports fish, frogs, or other wetland creatures can provide more lasting play value than a lawn alone. A low, freestanding deck connected to the rest of the yard with paths that wind among shrubs can serve as a base for forts or a stage for plays.

For toddlers, an oversize sandbox is a great choice. Cover it with bird netting, rather than plastic sheeting, between uses to keep cats and other critters from using it as a litter box while permitting sunlight, a natural sanitizer, to reach the sand.

 

Photo:  Garden Picture Library

 

Habitat for Birds, Bees, and Butterflies

Less-lawn solution: Outside a kitchen or home-office window, position shrubs that provide food and cover for birds, such as highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), red osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera), common spicebush (Lindera benzoin), and viburnum varieties. Add a small water feature—a birdbath or fountain—as the focal point. Then, when you want a distraction from the mundane tasks, you can watch the wildlife.

If you have the space, establishing a "minimeadow" as a border or boundary area is another effective way to attract birds, as well as beneficial insects. Native plants like goldenrod, sunflower, and coneflower supply nectar for butterflies and, in fall, produce seeds for birds to enjoy. Make sure you have a sunny site—and can tolerate a weedy look at the edge of your property. Check that you won't run head-on into local ordinances or subdivision rules that require lawns to be mowed to a certain height. At American Meadows, you can find seed mix custom-blended for your part of the country. Watching what happens is part of the fun. Cornflower, cosmos, and other annuals typically grow quickly and put on a great show the first year; then perennials come on stronger and eventually take over.

 

Photo:  Saxon Holt

 

Green Carpet That's Not Grass

Less-lawn solution: If you crave the open look of a lush lawn, low-growing groundcovers may be your best alternative. TOH landscape contractor Roger Cook warns that many low-growing groundcovers are sold as small plants, and establishing them over a large area can be costly. So he often uses higher-growing groundcovers along the edges or creates a patchwork quilt that mixes high-growing types (such as sweet woodruff, or Galium odoratum, and ferns) with low growers. He favors bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) on sandy sites and junipers in sunny spots; where it's okay for plants to die back in winter, he often plants hostas.

Foot-traffic-friendly groundcovers that compete well with weeds and stay relatively short without mowing include mat-forming creeping thyme, grasslike blue sedge (Carex glauca), and mounding moss phlox (a good choice on hillsides where mowing is difficult). The Plant Info section at Stepables includes a feature to help you find suitable species according to the amount of foot traffic they will get (and accounts for sun and water needs, as well). With a little searching, you can find a spreading groundcover that gives you the kind of green space that appeals to your sense of style, makes fewer demands on your time—and is easier on the earth.

 

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/m/photos/0,,20153493,00.html?xid=socialflow_twitter

 

 

 

 

Green Roofs Serve as Vital Wildlife Habitat

The world's best thinkers on the urban future

 

June 19, 2012

 

Green roof’s provide the benefit of natural heating and insulation, a lovely space to escape to amidst the bustle of city-life, but new research shows that they are also providing a vital refuge for birds as they fly through on their way to somewhere else.

Dustrin Patridge is a doctoral candidate at Fordham University, and he’s been tracking the insect life – as well as monitoring which birds are stopping over.

Reporter Rachel Nuewer visited Partridge for Ecomagination to get a closer look at these beautiful green roofs, and the research that Partridge is doing.

Watch “Eating on a Green Roof” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pESYN9TfN2w

Source: Ecomagination

 

 

 

Gardening for Wildlife: Corralling the Rain

Rain gardens offer a natural solution to runoff pollution

07-27-2015 // Mark Wexler

 

 

FOR DECADES, PEOPLE LIVING ALONG 8TH AVE NW in Puyallup, Washington, watched helplessly as their yards and street flooded during heavy rainstorms. With each flood, rivers of runoff tainted with lawn chemicals, car oil, animal waste and other pollutants poured into sewers and area waterways. But a few years ago, residents found a cost-effective solution to their problem: gardens designed to manage the rain.

Working with local authorities and landscape designers, residents installed bioretention cells, or rain gardens, in their yards and along the two-block-long avenue. “We haven’t had flooding problems since,” says homeowner Steve Hollis, “and the rain garden in our front yard has improved both the appearance and value of our property.”

 

Using Nature as a Sponge

The 8th Avenue project is part of a campaign—initiated by Washington State University Extension and the nonprofit Stewardship Partners in Seattle—to build 12,000 rain gardens on private property in the Puget Sound area by the end of 2016. Washington State scientists say at least 14 million pounds of toxic contaminants flow annually into the sound, much of it coming from urban communities. “The majority of our area’s water pollution is caused by rainwater runoff from our streets, driveways, lawns and rooftops,” says Stewardship Partners Program Manager Aaron Clark.

Across the country, hundreds of other municipalities are also supporting “green infrastructure” projects that utilize rain gardens and other natural processes. “Traditionally, cities have built huge, expensive concrete structures to control runoff,” says U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist Roger Bannerman, an expert on bioretention systems. “But the paradigm slowly is changing, and more and more communities are turning to natural solutions.”

Designed to capture and absorb rainfall where it lands, rain gardens are cultivated, bowl-shaped depressions, about 3 to 7 inches deep, strategically located near patios, roofs, lawns and other runoff sources. Their soils—sometimes augmented with compost or sand to improve permeability—work like sponges to absorb and filter the water, allowing it to percolate slowly into the ground. Researchers have found that such gardens collect about 30 percent more water than conventional lawns. When filled with native plants, they can also act as magnets for birds, butterflies and bees.

 

 

Ideal Form and Function

Most rain gardens will help reduce flooding, but ideally they should be big enough to hold all runoff from sources such as downspouts. Bannerman says a downspout rain garden should be 15 to 20 percent of the size of the roof area for homeowners who have sandy soil, 25 to 35 percent for those with soil containing some clay and 30 to 40 percent for homes with less-porous, all-clay soil. Such gardens should be about twice as long (perpendicular to the runoff source) as they are wide.

“Plant selection is very important,” says Jan Satterthwaite, a Seattle landscape architect and team leader of a local NWF Community Wildlife Habitat^® project. She primarily uses plants native to the region that will thrive in wet and dry conditions and attract wildlife. Plants with deep fibrous roots provide the most cleaning and filtration benefits. Satterthwaite uses a mix of grasses and sedges, herbaceous flowering plants and native shrubs.

She has been designing projects for RainWise, a Seattle public utilities program that offers rebates averaging $4,000 to homeowners who install rain gardens and cisterns in areas where sewers overflow. Client Christina Burtner had sewer backups and flooding in her basement during storms. Satterthwaite put a 26-square-foot rain garden in Burtner’s yard using low-maintenance plants. “Not only has it solved our basement dampness and side-sewer woes,” says Burtner, “it also has added beauty to our property.”

 

 

Rain-Garden Tips

The following pointers can help you choose the best location and plants for your rain garden:

• For easier installation, look for flat areas and avoid steep slopes.

• Extend your downspouts or add rock-filled channels to direct roof runoff toward your garden.

• Construct the garden at least 10 feet away from your foundation to keep water from seeping into your basement.

• Don’t build directly over a septic system or utility lines.

• Avoid using an existing depression in your yard that constantly is damp or where water regularly pools, two indications that soil drainage at that spot is poor.

• Select a site that receives full or partial sun.

• For effective results, landscaping professionals suggest incorporating a mixture of deep-rooted native sedges, rushes and grasses with your flowering species (forbs).

• Select plants that bloom or produce berries at different times to provide continual habitat for wildlife. For names of appropriate native species, check with your local agricultural extension service or local native plant society.

For more natural gardening tips, visit www.nwf.org/nwfgarden.

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Mark Wexler is editor-at-large of National Wildlife magazine.

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Become an NWF Wildlife Gardener and sign up for our Garden for Wildlife™ newsletter. It's free and you will receive great gardening tips and learn how to certify your yard as a Certified Wildlife Habitat^® site or your community as part of NWF's Community Wildlife Habitat^® program.

 

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Gardening/Archives/2015/Rain-Gardens.aspx

 

 

 

 

National Moth Week July 18-26, 2015

 

National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, life cycles, and habitats of moths. “Moth-ers” of all ages and abilities are encouraged to learn about, observe, and document moths in their backyards, parks, and neighborhoods. National Moth Week is being held, worldwide, during the last full week of July. National Moth Week offers everyone, everywhere a unique opportunity to become a Citizen Scientist and contribute scientific data about moths. Through partnerships with major online biological data depositories, National Moth Week participants can help map moth distribution and provide needed information on other life history aspects around the globe.

This year, National Moth Week will spotlight the Sphingidae family of moths found throughout the world commonly called hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms.   

 

Why moths?

<![if !supportLists]>§  <![endif]>Moths are among the most diverse and successful organisms on earth.

<![if !supportLists]>§  <![endif]>Scientists estimate there are 150,000 to more than 500,000 moth species.

<![if !supportLists]>§  <![endif]>Their colors and patterns are either dazzling or so cryptic that they define camouflage. Shapes and sizes span the gamut from as small as a pinhead to as large as an adult’s hand.

<![if !supportLists]>§  <![endif]>Most moths are nocturnal, and need to be sought at night to be seen – others fly like butterflies during the day.

<![if !supportLists]>§  <![endif]>Finding moths can be as simple as leaving a porch light on and checking it after dark. Serious moth aficionados use special lights and baits to attract them.

http://nationalmothweek.org/

 

7 Moths that Make Butterflies Look Boring

42 7/24/2013 // By Dani Tinker

 

I still like butterflies, but let’s be honest, moths need some love. They just aren’t as popular as butterflies, and they certainly should be! Both belong to the large order of insects, Lepidoptera, which refers to the tiny scales covering most moth and butterfly wings. I used to freak out when I touched a moth or butterfly wing because there was a powdery residue. Turns out, that’s the scales rubbing off their wings. Although they can usually still fly, their fragile wings are easily damaged and it’s best to handle with extreme care or not at all.

Moth species dominate the Lepidoptera order almost 10 to 1, with over 11,000 species in the U.S. alone! I chose a few moths to highlight that give butterflies some stiff competition.

#1: Snowberry Clearwing Moth

Is it a bumblebee? A hummingbird? Nope, this magnificent creature is a Snowberry Clearwing moth. It’s one of a few species of moths found flying by day, while most are active at night. They mimic the flight of hummingbirds, hovering to sip nectar. This moth belongs to the family Sphingidae

, commonly known as sphinx  or hawk moths. These are some of the fastest flying insects in the world, clocking speeds at over 33 m.p.h.! The two threatened and endangered moths in the U.S. are both sphinx moths. Take a look below if you want to learn more.

The clearwing moth hovers as it drinks, resembling a hummingbird. (Photo by Flickr/vickisnature)

#2: Luna Moth

Luna moths are really freaking amazing. No mouth. Don’t eat as adults. Only live for a week. This photo is one of the Luna moths I encountered while camping in North Carolina. I may have carried it around on this stick for awhile. Don’t judge.

Luna moths are fairly common in the Eastern U.S. near forests. (Photo by Kevin Heath)

#3: Texas Wasp Moth

This species has evolved to mimic paper wasps to protect themselves. Predators that are adverse to wasps will stay away from these moths as well. Pure genius. And easy on the eyes.

(Photo by Flickr: Clinton & Charles Robertson)

#4: Atlas Moth

This species is the largest moth in the world (measured by wing surface area). Female Atlas moths can reach a total wing surface area of over 62 square inches and wingspan of over 12 inches! Imagine those giant flappers headed toward you.

(National Wildlife Photo Contest Entry by Andrea Mosley)

#5: Winter Moth

There are several families of moths with flightless females, including the Winter moth. Notice that the female does have wings, they are just too small to support flight. That must be the most frustrating thing in the world, to have wings, but not be able to fly. Thanks for nothing, tiny wings.

Winter moths mating, the flightless female is on the right. (Photo by Flickr: Jenn Forman Orth)

#6: Uropyia meticulodina

There is apparently no common name for this moth. And no words are necessary. Except that I will now and forever be paranoid while stepping on dead leaves.

The wings of this moth curl to resemble dead leaves! (Photo by Flickr: Shipher Wu

)

#7: Cecropia Moth

Female Cecropia moths, like many other species, produce pheromones to attract mates. Following this scent can be dangerous for male Cecropia moths, however. Bolas spiders are able to mimic these pheromones and eat whichever male moths show up!

(Photo by Flickr: Paul Huber)

Threatened & Endangered Moths

There are two moths officially listed as threatened or endangered  in the U.S. The first is the Kern Primrose Sphinx moth, found in California and listed as threatened.  The second is Hawaii’s largest native insect, the Blackburn’s Sphinx moth, which is listed as endangered. According to National Moth Week, “for many moth species distributional information is lacking or poorly documented, for others, DNA is clarifying phylogenic relationships and identifying new species.”

Your observations, or citizen science data, is critical to filling in the data gaps and helping moths. Visit the National Moth Week website to submit your observations.

Endangered Blackburn’s Sphinx moth. (Photo by Flickr: Forest & Kim Starr)

Turn Your Yard Into a Haven for Wildlife

Welcome wildlife into your own backyard! Find the best native plants  to attract butterflies to your yard. Then, make your yard an official NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat®!

Gene Dempsey, City Forester

Public Works Sustainability Division

Office - (954) 828-5785  Fax - (954) 828-4745

GDempsey@fortlauderdale.gov