http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/natural-sciences/photo-sunshine-reveals-translucence-butterflys-wings/
Great Spangled Fritillary
Speyeria cybele (Fabricius, 1775)Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Heliconiinae
Identification: Large. Upperside of male tan to orange with black scales on forewing veins; female tawny, darker than male. Underside of hindwing with wide pale submarginal band and large silver spots.
Wing Span: 2 1/2 - 4 inches (6.3 - 10.1 cm).
Life History: Males patrol open areas for females. Eggs are laid in late summer on or near host violets. Newly-hatched caterpillars do not feed, but overwinter until spring, when they eat young violet leaves.
Flight: One brood from mid-June to mid-September.
Caterpillar Hosts: Various violet species (Viola).
Adult Food: Nectar from many species of flowers including milkweeds, thistles, ironweed, dogbane, mountain laurel, verbena, vetch, bergamot, red clover, joe-pye weed, and purple coneflower.
Habitat: Open, moist places including fields, valleys, pastures, right-of-ways, meadows, open woodland, prairies.
Range: Alberta east to Nova Scotia, south to central California, New Mexico, central Arkansas, and northern Georgia. Comments: The most common fritillary throughout most of the eastern United States.
Conservation: Not usually required.
NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: None reported.
Taxonomy Notes:
What is a Butterfly Garden?
Butterfly gardens come in all shapes and sizes. Yours can begin in a single pot - or a plot of land. You can add a few plants to a couple of beds or a window box or transform an existing garden.
Whatever you decide to do, the most important thing to remember is to have fun doing it!
Planning Your Garden
With a little planning, you and your butterfly visitors will get the most out of your garden.
You’ll want to know which butterflies visit your area and then provide the nectar plants they’ll need for food and the host plants they’ll need for their eggs and larvae. Combining both types of plants will help you increase the numbers and varieties of butterflies to your garden.
To keep a steady stream of color and butterfly visitors to your garden you’ll want to include a variety of plants that bloom at varying times throughout the season. And by planting the flowers in bunches you’ll help butterflies see them from a distance.
Butterflies Like It Hot
Butterflies love the sun. Since they have no internal way to increase their body temperature, they rely on the warmth of the sun to get them going. And since most nectar plants require full sun, it is a good idea to locate your garden where it will get plenty of sun and be seen by butterflies.
Butterflies also need shelter from the wind and predators so having trees and shrubs nearby is a good idea too.
Controlling Pests In Your Butterfly Garden – Naturally
Butterflies are insects so it is wise to eliminate or restrict the use of insecticides and pesticides in or around your garden. You don't want to inadvertently kill the very creatures you are inviting to your garden.
There are alternative ways to help control pests that are less harmful to your butterfly garden. Insects such as ladybugs and spiders along with harmless snakes such as garter snakes can help control garden pests. Birds can get in on the act too adding their own form of color and beauty to your garden in the process.
- See more at: http://www.gardenswithwings.com/what-is-a-butterfly-garden.html#sthash.8hck6f5f.dpuf
DAY BUTTERFLY CENTER at Calloway Gardens
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Open daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Flights of fancy await you in the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center, where hundreds of butterflies flutter freely about in one of North America’s largest glass-enclosed tropical butterfly conservatories. The Day Butterfly Center is a living, dynamic environment in which a variety of tropical plants nourish the residents and new arrivals emerge from their chrysalides, dry their wings and begin their very first wing-beats.
Every visit to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified Day Butterfly Center is a new experience. The plant palette constantly matures and changes, and the butterfly population, comprising more than 50 species, fluctuates in diversity and density due to influences such as amount of available sunshine, season of the year, temperature and stability of the ecosystem. Visit in September to see the planet's largest display of beautiful, iridescent Blue Morpho Butterflies during Blue Morpho Month.
Each Thursday at 10 a.m., Spring through Fall, join our experts to learn "Gardening for Butterflies." Learn how to attract butterflies to your garden not only for their beauty but for their help in pollination. You will learn how to incorporate the plants needed for all life stages of the butterfly. After the lesson, head to the Day Butterfly Center Gift Shop to purchase seeds to start your own butterfly garden!
http://www.callawaygardens.com/things-to-do/attractions/day-butterfly-center
Whatever you decide to do, the most important thing to remember is to have fun doing it!
Planning Your Garden
With a little planning, you and your butterfly visitors will get the most out of your garden.
You’ll want to know which butterflies visit your area and then provide the nectar plants they’ll need for food and the host plants they’ll need for their eggs and larvae. Combining both types of plants will help you increase the numbers and varieties of butterflies to your garden.
To keep a steady stream of color and butterfly visitors to your garden you’ll want to include a variety of plants that bloom at varying times throughout the season. And by planting the flowers in bunches you’ll help butterflies see them from a distance.
Butterflies Like It Hot
Butterflies love the sun. Since they have no internal way to increase their body temperature, they rely on the warmth of the sun to get them going. And since most nectar plants require full sun, it is a good idea to locate your garden where it will get plenty of sun and be seen by butterflies.
Butterflies also need shelter from the wind and predators so having trees and shrubs nearby is a good idea too.
Controlling Pests In Your Butterfly Garden – Naturally
Butterflies are insects so it is wise to eliminate or restrict the use of insecticides and pesticides in or around your garden. You don't want to inadvertently kill the very creatures you are inviting to your garden.
There are alternative ways to help control pests that are less harmful to your butterfly garden. Insects such as ladybugs and spiders along with harmless snakes such as garter snakes can help control garden pests. Birds can get in on the act too adding their own form of color and beauty to your garden in the process.
- See more at: http://www.gardenswithwings.com/what-is-a-butterfly-garden.html#sthash.8hck6f5f.dpuf
DAY BUTTERFLY CENTER at Calloway Gardens
<>Open daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Flights of fancy await you in the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center, where hundreds of butterflies flutter freely about in one of North America’s largest glass-enclosed tropical butterfly conservatories. The Day Butterfly Center is a living, dynamic environment in which a variety of tropical plants nourish the residents and new arrivals emerge from their chrysalides, dry their wings and begin their very first wing-beats.
Every visit to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified Day Butterfly Center is a new experience. The plant palette constantly matures and changes, and the butterfly population, comprising more than 50 species, fluctuates in diversity and density due to influences such as amount of available sunshine, season of the year, temperature and stability of the ecosystem. Visit in September to see the planet's largest display of beautiful, iridescent Blue Morpho Butterflies during Blue Morpho Month.
Each Thursday at 10 a.m., Spring through Fall, join our experts to learn "Gardening for Butterflies." Learn how to attract butterflies to your garden not only for their beauty but for their help in pollination. You will learn how to incorporate the plants needed for all life stages of the butterfly. After the lesson, head to the Day Butterfly Center Gift Shop to purchase seeds to start your own butterfly garden!
http://www.callawaygardens.com/things-to-do/attractions/day-butterfly-center
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