Native Butterfly Host Plants for the Willamette Valley
Doing some garden planning? Here's a handy dandy list of native plants that support butterfly caterpillars.
The monarch is probably the most well-known butterfly in the world. Unfortunately, its range has also declined considerably. Gardeners are becoming more and more aware that in order to have monarchs, there has to be milkweed - the only plant that the monarch caterpillar will feed on.
But did you know that all butterflies require specific plants to feed their caterpillars? These plants are called host plants, which are different than what butterflies use as nectar plants. Host plants feed the caterpillar, nectar plants feed the butterfly. Often the butterfly will nectar on its host plant, plus a whole range of other plants, which I won’t go into here.
The focus of this post will be on host plants - since there are no butterflies without caterpillars and their associated plants.
I have a thing for butterflies and moths. Their visits feel so ethereal. I love observing them up close - their coloring is so cool! I’ve done what I can to expand their habitat on my property.
Moths aren’t as specific about what plants they need, and I’m not typically awake when they are out doing their thing. Since they come out mostly at night and their plant needs are far more extensive, I’ve focused my efforts on learning native butterfly plants.
First, a few photos to help whet your palate:
Plant list:
Alder: Western Tiger Swallowtail, Pale Swallowtail, Mourning Cloak
Ash: Western Tiger Swallowtail
Bittercress/toothwort (plants in the brassica family) : Sara’s Orangetip, Margined White
Blackberry (trailing, AKA dewberry: Two-banded Checkered Skipper
Bleeding hearts: Clodius Parnassian
Broad-leaved Lotus (lotus crassifolius): Bramble Green Hairstreak, Silver Spotted Skipper
Carrot family: Anise Swallowtail (69 host plants including natives and garden vegetables)
Ceanothus species: Pale Swallowtail, Echo Azure, Lorquin’s Admiral, California Tortoiseshell
Cedars (Western and Incense Cedar): Cedar Hairstreak
Checkermallow: Painted Lady, West Coast Lady, Alpine-Checkered Skipper, Commmon Checkered Skipper
Cherry (native Bitter and Chokecherry and others): Western Tiger Swallowtail, Pale Swallowtail, Echo Azure, Lorquin’s Admiral
Cinquefoil: Purplish Copper, Alpine Checkered Skipper
Clovers: Orange Sulfur, Eastern Tailed Blue
Geum: Two-Banded Checkered Skipper
Grasses (Fescues, Bromes): Ochre Ringlet, Common Wood Nymph, Juba Skipper, Sonora Skipper, Sachem, Woodland Skipper
Hairgrasses (Descampsias): Juba Skipper
Lotus: Acmon Blue, Persius Duskywing
Lupines: Orange Sulfur, Silvery Blue, Eastern Tailed Blue, Acmon Blue, American Lady, Painted Lady, Persius Duskywing
Madrone: Brown Elfin, Echo Azure
Maples (Big Leaf and Vine Maples): Western Tiger Swallowtail, Mourning Cloak
Oceanspray: Pale Swallowtail, Echo Azure, Lorquin’s Admiral
Pearly Everlasting: American Lady
Penstemmon: Snowberry Checkerspot
Poplars (cottonwoods): Western Tiger Swallowtail, Lorquin’s Admiral, Mourning Cloak
Ribes (currant, gooseberry): Pale Swallowtail, Oreas Angelwing, Green Comma
Rumex species: Purplish Copper
Sedges: Ochre Ringlet, Dun Skipper
Sedums: Brown Elfin
Serviceberry: Pale Swallowtail, Brown Elfin, Lorquin’s Admiral
Snowberries: Snowberry Checkerspot
Spiraea Douglasii: Pale Swallowtail, Echo Azure
Stinging Nettle: American lady, West Coast Lady, Red Admirable, Milbert’s Tortoiseshell, Satyr Angelwing
Strawberry: Alpine Checkered Skipper
Thistles: Painted Lady, Mylitta Crescent
Willows: Western Tiger Swallowtail, Lorquin’s Admiral, Mourning Cloak, Green Comma
Vetches: Silvery Blue, Eastern Tailed Blue, Western Tailed Blue
Violets: Western Meadow Fritillary, Great-spangled Fritillary, Hydaspe Fritillary
Resources:
Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest (book)
Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies (book)
www.calscape.org
www.pnwflowers.org
www.butterfliesandmoths.org
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