We all look forward to spring and the return of butterflies and bees to our gardens. It is such a thrill to see the first butterfly on our newly bloomed flowers, but pollinator gardening is much more than the passive enjoyment of these visitors. Pollinator gardening is providing a habitat for these insects in each season and stage of their life cycle.

The butterfly is mostly a day flying insect; from the order of Lepidoptera, which is derived from Greek meaning scale wing. There are more than 140,000 known species of butterflies and moths. The butterfly life cycle has four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult.

Each butterfly has a particular host plant.

The

Monarch butterfly’s host plant is the milkweed. The sap from the milkweed leaves give the butterfly a bad taste which protects it from predators. Milkweed is also their first choice for nectar.The Monarch will lay its eggs on the underside of the leaves. These same leaves provide food for the caterpillar to eat until it is time to spin itself into a chrysalis, which will, in turn, open into a beautiful butterfly and the process will start all over again. The Monarch butterfly can be identified by its orange and black markings. The caterpillar (or larva) has white, yellow and black stripes.The Monarch butterfly is one of the few butterflies that migrate. Though only a few that left in fall will return in spring, they will lay eggs along the way and these offspring will be the ones to return. Late blooming perennials such as goldenrod and asters will also provide nectar for migrating Monarchs.The

Fritillary butterfly prefers thistles and coneflowers. Pansies and violets are host plants for this butterfly. They will lay their eggs at the base of dormant violets.The Fritillary butterfly can be identified by its orange with black checker box pattern. The larva or caterpillar is bright orange with rows of black spines on its head and back.The

Painted Lady is a late season butterfly and is sometimes called the thistle butterfly.The host plant for this butterfly is the hollyhock. You may go out to your garden and find the leaves of your hollyhock plants have a lace like appearance. When you check the undersides, you will find many small caterpillars. This butterfly has a brown body, orange striped wings with black tips that are flecked with white spots and the larva is black with yellow spikes across its back.The

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is one of the largest butterflies in our area. This butterfly feeds on native trees such as wild cherry, willow, ash, birch and tulip. These trees are also host plants for this butterfly.Swallowtails are also drawn to zinnias and will feed on rotted fruit. The Swallowtail butterfly is yellow with black tiger stripes on the wings. The caterpillar is brown with a large head and has large eye spots, false eyes that scare predators.

Catch their attentionThere are many ways to attract butterflies to your garden. Primarily you will want to plant trees and flowers to catch their attention and provide food.Butterflies are more attracted to groupings of flowers.They prefer brightly colored flowers of purple, red, yellow and orange such as bee balm, cosmos, geranium, marigold, coneflower, zinnia and sunflower. Flat top or clustered flowers are best.It is also helpful to know the host plants that are necessary for the butterflies to lay their eggs and for the caterpillars to feed on. It is very important to not use chemical pesticides that will kill the good insects as well as the bad.Adding a light-colored flat rock to your garden will provide a place for a butterfly to rest and warm up on a cool morning. You can also provide a shallow dish of water.There are also butterfly nectar feeders that you can buy to help attract these beautiful insects to your yard.Be sure to leave a natural area in your yard to provide shelter.

Diane Walczak is a member of the Penn State Master Gardeners of Butler County.