We featured butterflies at our booth at Thunder Bay's Spring Home and Garden Show, April 4, 5 and 6, 2008. Here is more information to help in your gardening efforts and identifying butterflies. Special thanks to Jon Walas for the loan of the butterfly specimens.
Another related TBFN event:
Friday, June 6, 10:00 p.m.
Moths
Meet at the Terry Fox Monument. John Walas will have bait out for moths. The moths will fly even in a drizzle and so rain gear may be needed. A flashlight would come in handy. The Tourist Bureau will be open for us. Binoculars that focus close up that you use for spotting butterflies would be useful. Bring bug dope!
Call John Walas 345-3324 to confirm
Easy Project - Mud Bath for Butterflies
Butterflies can’t get all the minerals and salt they need from drinking flower nectar. They visit muddy areas to find salt and minerals. This is called “puddling”. Place some garden dirt and water in a saucer, then add a sprinkle of table salt and a bit of garden manure to create a spa for butterflies. You can buy a large shallow plastic or glazed ceramic saucer at any plant store for a dollar or two, add the key ingredients, and butterflies will be attracted. Put the mud bath on a table in the sun where pets won’t bother the butterflies... or, you can simply let a hose drip or pour water daily onto some bare soil. If you want to add extra minerals and nutrients, mix together some regular soil with manure and sand. If you put a plastic liner in a shallow depression and fill it with your mud mixture, the plastic will hold the moisture so you won't have to water it as often.
Did you know: ...Butterfly tarsi or "feet" possess a sense similar to taste. Contact with sweet liquids such as nectar causes the proboscis to uncoil. For nectar, you can purchase commercially prepared nectar powder that can be mixed with water. Some butterflies will also drink Gatorade or similar sports drinks. Putting out rotting fruit will attract a lot of species as well. You can even add a splash of rum or wine to the fruit to make it even more attractive.
...Millions of shingle-like, overlapping scales give butterfly wings their color and patterns. Metallic, iridescent hues come from faceted scales that refract light. Solid colors are from pigmented scales.
...During the time from hatching to pupating (forming the pupa or chrysalis), the caterpillar may increase its body size more than 30,000 times.
...The chrysalises or pupae of many common “Gossamer Wings” - a group of butterflies which includes the blues, hairstreaks and elfins - are capable of producing weak sounds. By flexing and rubbing together body segment membranes, sounds are generated that may frighten off small predators and parasites.
Butterfly collections by Jon Walas at the Thunder Bay Spring Home and Garden Show.
Instructional materials at the Thunder Bay Spring Home and Garden Show.
Inspirata... Spring will be our real inspiration as March moves into April. Take notice of the changes that come with the change of season. Follow the daily life of a plant coming back to us after the winter. Watch the tiny changes of something you planted last year respond to the warming of the earth. Spring is a wake up call to us all.
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