Are Butterflies More Plentiful in Virginia This Year?

It seems as if the Eastern tiger swallow tail is the most plentiful in my garden, but that’s probably because of the butterfly bushes. The tiger swallow tail loves them!

The male Eastern tiger swallow tails are always yellow, but the females can be one of three colors: yellow like the males, black with brown markings, or black with blue markings.  If the female is yellow, she tends to have more blue markings than the males.

The males congregate on mud puddles, and this puddling action, as it is called, supposedly provides them with minerals they need to make specific pheromones. Pheromones are scent chemicals, and in the case of the males, it’s how they attract the ladies.  This past weekend, we hiked in Holliday Lake State Park and encountered dozens of yellow Eastern tiger swallow tails perches on a mud puddle the size of a dinner plate on the trail; they were puddling. They took off in a flurry of yellow and black, rising into the green tree canopy into a golden shower of butterflies.

The host trees for the Eastern tiger swallow tail are deciduous trees such as hornbeam, black cherry, black willow, yellow popar and sassafrass. I’ve also found the caterpillars on my dill plants; they seem to eat quite a bit of dill, which is fine by me since it seeds prolifically in the garden.

These butterflies will be active until September.  If you don’t have a butterfly bush in the garden, try planting one to attract Eastern tiger swallow tails. They also love native perennials like Echinacea (purple coneflower), day lilies, and annuals like petunias and geraniums.

Are there more this year?  I’ve counted dozens on one butterfly bush. I’m no butterfly expert, but I do think there are more in the garden this year.

All pictures were taken by me, Jeanne Grunert, in my garden, July 2013.