Where did all my Butterflies go?

Design and InstallationGarden Caregarden TriviaPlant Health CareUncategorized
Written By Peter Morris

The Basics

 Butterflies and moths are two evolutionarily related group of insects. They are in the Lepidoptera.  All of them have wings covered with scales. Their family name comes from the words for scaly (lepido) and winged (ptera).Most butterflies are very colorful and usually active exclusively during the day. In contrast, most moths are fairly drably colored and are active at night. 

One of the first butterfly and moth drawings

 The best way to distinguish moths and butterflies is to look at their antennas. Butterfly antennas are a long shaft that has a "club" at its end. 

Typical butterfly filament antennae

 Most moths have antennas that are fuzzy.  They are either simple filaments, tapering to a point, or are very complicated looking somewhat like radar antennas ! 

Large moth with “fuzzy” antennae

 

The species

 There are approximately 20,000 species of butterflies in the world.  About 725 species occur in North American north of Mexico.  Roughly 100 species of butterflies are found in and around us in New York City. 

Common Buckeye of New England

 

Lifespan

 An adult butterfly has an average life-span of approximately one month. The smallest butterflies may live only a week or so.  Large migrating ones, such as Monarchs and Mourning Cloaks, can live up to nine months. 

Overwintering

 About half of most butterflies that live in cold climates spend the winter as caterpillars.  Those that hibernate, initiate their response when temperatures go below 50°F. By the time winter hits hardest, the water in the caterpillar’s body has all been moved to the outer cells.  This creates a protective coating that insulates the internal cells from freezing. If ice does form inside there, the caterpillar’s survival is compromised.  

Caterpillar ready to hibernate for winter

 Almost as many species of butterflies and moths spend the winter as pupas. A few species, spend the winter as adults, hibernating in holes in trees.  They also hide in crevices in man-made structures, or in other shelters.  A fraction of species spend the winter as eggs. 

Hibernating chrysalis almost ready to emerge

 

Summer Migration

 Many butterflies that spend the summer in temperate North America cannot survive freezing winters. They spend the cold winters in warmer areas. Each year, as the weather in the north warms up, butterflies from Mexico and the southern United States fly up.  The newly arriving adults repopulate these regions. For most species, this northward dispersal is somewhat gradual. 

Butterflies migration Northward in warmer weather

 

Winter Migration

 To us, the reverse migration, south in the fall, is more obvious. However, exactly where all of these species go to is not very well known.Monarch butterflies are probably the best studied.  They are the most well-known of the migratory butterflies. But even here the knowledge is limited. Most of the Monarchs from west of the Rocky Mountains spend the winter along the California coast.  Those from central North America spend the winter in roosts in the mountains of central Mexico. 

Winter migration of Monarch butterfly

 

If you wants lots of butterflies - like this common NYC butterfly - in your garden next summer

call Plant Specialists today !

We can install the plants that attract them !

White Admiral

GREENING NEW YORK FOR OVER 51 YEARS !

  Article written by our Staff Horticulturist, Peter B Morris, BSc, MSc, MBAAll photographs used with permission @SHUTTERSTOCK 

Peter Morris

Peter was born and raised on a beautiful green island in the midst of a tropical rainforest. He was introduced into the world of plants at the age of six when his grandmother, an avid Spanish gardener herself, asked him to help her grow seeds for her pepper garden. He was hooked! By the time he was a teen, he had his own rose and orchid collection numbering in the hundreds. Botany was in his blood, and that is what he set out to study.

His passion brought him to NY in the late seventies to further his education. His tenacity allowed him to work full time at Plant Specialists while he completed a MS in Plant Biology. As a manager at the time he felt unsatisfied with his knowledge of business and business processes. Peter felt compelled to learn, so he then pursued and completed an MBA in Quality Management within a few short years.

Peter’s other passion is teaching. His natural ability is quickly consumed by our staff in all subjects in Botany, Horticulture, and Landscaping. He created an immense reference library of more than 3,500 plants providing an invaluable resource for our staff.

Peter’s breadth of knowledge and wisdom allows him to effectively diagnose the needs of plants. Sometimes just by walking into a garden he can create a prescription that fixes even the hardest issue. He is our Staff Botanist, Diagnostician, and all around Mentor. Recently, he has put his immense knowledge and skills into developing a new department that focuses on Plant Healthcare. As he puts it, “Magic through Science”. The PHC staff that surround him have avidly consumed his teachings. Substantially developing their own plant wisdom, many have taken on difficult plant health issues with spectacular results.

Plant Healthcare has been an instant success with customers! The proper treatment of insects and diseases including Organic methods has made pest control a necessity for every plant. Correcting hormonal imbalances caused by planting in containers or refurbishing soils leached of nutrients by irrigation systems are big challenges PHC has become quite comfortable addressing. The scientific approach to the complex demands of keeping plants healthy in our harsh city environment has made many a customer say WOW!

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