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Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed Dreamstime Click on image to enlarge it

Investigate Butterflies and Their Habitat


A Butterfly Garden attracts butterflies to your outdoor classroom by providing habitat including food, water and shelter for butterflies and their caterpillars.

 

Click on the topics below to learn more!
Alabama's Butterflies	Life Cycle	Habitat Needs	Interesting Facts

 
   

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Alabama's Butterflies
Alabama is home to 144 different species of butterflies including 60 species of skippers!
Butterflies, skippers (small, short butterflies), and moths belong to the same order (category of animals) called Lepidoptera meaning "scaly wings".
They all share these three traits or characteristics:
#1 Curled drinking mouthparts (like a straw) called a proboscis		#2 Scales on their wings	#3 Complete metamorphosis (physical changes during life cycle)
Gulf Fritillary Butterfly with coiled Proboscis Click on Pic to Enlarge	Gulf Fritillary Butterfly drinking with Proboscis Click on Pic to Enlarge	Red Admiral Butterfly Wing Scales Click on Pic to Enlarge	Example Moth Life Cycle Changes Click on Diagram to Enlarge
These three groups have similarities and differences:

 

Butterflies: Diurnal (active during the day) Antennae are long and thin with knobs (or clubs) at the end  Long, thin bodies All 4 wings held up when resting (see pic to the right) Form a chrysalis for pupation - the transformation stage between the larvae (caterpillar) and adult	Black Swallowtail Butterfly Dreamstime Click on image to enlarge it
Skippers: Diurnal (active during the day) Antennae are long and thin with little hooks on the end Short, thick bodies with small wings All 4 wings held held up when resting (see pic to the right) Spin a silk cocoon for pupation - the transformation stage between the larvae (caterpillar) and adult	Silver Spotted Skipper Flickr - Mary Keim Click on image to enlarge it
Moths: Nocturnal (active during the night) Antennae are long, feathery (or fern-like) and fuzzy with no knob or hook at the end Long, thick bodies A row of bristles hold the front and back wings together during flight All 4 wings down and flat when resting (see pic to the right) Spin a silk cocoon for pupation - the transformation stage between the larvae (caterpillar) and adult	Luna Moth Wikimedia - Geoff Gallice Click on image to enlarge it
Visit the Alabama Butterfly Atlas website for detailed information about the butterflies and moths that call Alabama home or travel through Alabama during their migration. Some of the species you will likely find in your outdoor classroom include  the Monarch or Black Swallowtail.  (Click on each species name to learn more about that butterfly species.)

   







   
   
   

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Life Cycle
A "baby" butterfly is called a caterpillar.  Caterpillars do not look like the adult butterflies. They go through a process called metamorphosis.  During the four stages (steps) of metamorphosis, they go through physical changes from an egg to a caterpillar to a chrysalis and then to an adult butterfly.	Black Swallowtail Butterfly Life Cycle  From Gardens with Wings.com Click on image to enlarge it
Step 1 - Eggs:​ Eggs are laid on leaves or stems of "host plants"  Certain species must lay their eggs on specific host plants. These plants become food for the caterpillar when it emerges.		Black Swallowtail Eggs Bugoftheweek.com - Dr. Michael J. Raupp Click on image to enlarge it
Step 2 - Caterpillars: Caterpillars (or larva) hatch from the eggs. Has chewing mouthparts and eats the plant on which its egg was laid. Caterpillars eat a lot and grow quickly! As it grows, it sheds (or molts) several times - its skin becomes too tight and splits open, revealing a new, larger skin underneath.  Watch this super cool video of Black Swallowtail molting!		Black Swallowtail Caterpillar Flickr - Judy Gallagher Click on image to enlarge it
Step 3 - Chrysalis: Once the caterpillar is fully grown, it looks for a safe place that will keep it protected where it can pupate. It makes a silk-like mat and attaches its last pair of legs to the mat. It hangs there as it passes from the larval (caterpillar) stage to the pupa (chrysalis) stage of metamorphosis. Inside the chrysalis (casing that protects the changing animal), the caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. Its new skin is soft and damp at first, but after about an hour it becomes dry and hard, providing a protective shell for the caterpillar inside.		Black Swallowtail Chrysalis Dreamstime Click on image to enlarge it
Step 4 - Adult Butterfly: When the metamorphosis process is complete, the butterfly emerges. At first, the wings are tiny, wet, and crumpled. The butterfly clings to its empty chrysalis shell the blood-like substance of insects, is pumped through its body. About one hour after emerging from its chrysalis, the butterfly's wings are full-sized, dry, and ready for flying. It will make short flights until it is strong enough to fly longer distances.   A few days after emerging from the chrysalis, the butterflies are able to mate and begin the life cycle again.		Black Swallowtail on Chrysalis Dreamstime - Jason Ondreicka Click on image to enlarge it

  
 

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Habitat Needs
Your butterfly garden includes flowering plants that provide food during the growing season as well as water, shelter, and a place to raise young (host plants).
Food: Nectar plants:  Adult butterflies rely on flight to search for flowers with nectar (sugary liquid) on wildflowers, bushes, and trees.  They use a long, curled tube-like mouthpart (proboscis) to drink the nectar inside the flowers. Host plants: Each species of butterfly has specific plant species (referred to as "host plants") on which they will lay their eggs.  When the caterpillars emerge from the eggs, they will only eat these specific host plants.		Black Swallowtail Caterpillar feeding on one of its Host Plants - Fennel or Dill Dreamstime Click on image to enlarge it
Visit our Dig Into Plants webpage to learn about the nectar plants and host plants you should include in your butterfly and caterpillar gardens. Learn why it's important to Plant Native Plants!
Water: Butterflies get their water needs met by drinking nectar and visiting shallow puddles.  Some species will also drink around decomposing plants or animals or around animal dung as a way to acquire minerals.  If you have a puddling station in your garden (a saucer filled with sand, manure, and water), this provides minerals to visiting butterflies.		Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies Drinking from Puddle Pikist.com Click on image to enlarge it
Shelter:
Butterflies will use bushes or trees in your garden to take refuge from weather and predators.
Places to Raise Young:
Each species of butterflies will only lay their eggs on specific plant species (referred to as “host plants”).  The caterpillars will only eat these host plants.  Once they stop eating and growing, they leave the host plants to find a safe place to hang from as they begin creating their chrysalis and pupating (the stage of metamorphosis between caterpillar and butterfly).
Click on image to enlarge it
	Native Plants: The most important part of your butterfly garden is native plants (plants that occur naturally in our area). Native butterflies have co-evolved (influence each other in the process of development or evolution) with native plants. Native butterflies can more efficiently collect pollen and nectar from the flowers of native plants, which increases the butterflies' ability to survive and reproduce (lay eggs).  Natives are better adapted for our specific climate and soil than non-native plant species that do not occur naturally and have been introduced to an area by humans).
These plants are an important base in the food chain, as they attract native butterfly species which are in turn food for native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. For these reasons, native plants increase the biodiversity (the variety of lving things found in a specific place) of your outdoor classroom.

 

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Interesting Facts about Butterflies and Their Habitats
# 1:	On average, adult butterflies only live about a month.
# 2:	Butterflies use their legs to determine what type of plant they have landed on. They have special cells on the backs of their legs and feet.  When a female lands on the leaf, she moves her feet until the leaf releases juices which she tests with her chemoreceptors (special cells) to make sure it is the right type of plant before laying her eggs!
# 3:	Butterfly vision is completely different than human vision.  Humans can only see directly in front of them, and the vision is clear.  A butterfly's view is blurry, but they can see more on the sides and slightly behind them rather than just in front of them.  This is important so they can detect and escape threats! Their vision appears blurry because they have compound eyes (many indivisual lenses that combine to form one image). Butterflies also have special structures that allow them to see different types of light than humans, helping them locate flowers and communicate with each other.
# 4:	Some butterflies can fly upwards of 37 miles per hour! Most only fly around 5-12 miles per hour.	Cluster of Monarchs Overwintering Wikimedia - Brocken Inaglory Click on mage to enlarge it
# 5:	The Monarch is the state insect of Alabama. They are here in spring and fall as they migrate to and from their wintering grounds in Mexico.
# 6:	Butterflies do not make cocoons! Instead, they molt into what is called a chrysalis, with a hard exoskeleton that protects the pupa. Cocoons are actually specific to moths! Moths spin a silk cocoon around themselves before their final molt.
# 7:	Some caterpillars are remarkably camouflaged (able to blend in with their surroundings) or uniquely patterned in a way that would make a predator not want to eat them! Our native Giant Swallowtail caterpillar (on the left) looks just like bird poop! The native Spicebush Swallowtail’s caterpillar (in the ceter) looks like a small snake or tree frog with very large eyes. The native Hag Moth caterpillar (on the right) looks like a hairy spider with its flattened body and six pairs of curly, tentacle-like legs.	From Left to Right: 1. Giant Swallowtail (left) 2. Spicebush Swallowtail (center) 3. Hag Moth (right) Click on image to enlarge it
# 8:	Many native species of moths have wings with patterns that look similar to tree bark which acts as camouflage allowing them to blend in so that predators cannot see or  detect them.

  
SOURCES
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Alabama Wildlife Federation (1) Alabama Wildlife Federation (2)		NatGeo Kids
North American Butterfly Association		San Diego Kids Zoo
Australian Butterfly Sanctuary Austrailian Butterfly Sanctuary		Australian Museum
Monarch Joint Venture		Florida 4-H Bug Club
Ogard, P. H., & Bright, S. (2010). Butterflies of Alabama: Glimpses into their lives. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press.		Arizona State University: Ask A Biologist

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