Florida Butterfly Garden

Zebra longwings (Heliconius charitonius) are one of four longwing and fritillary butterflies found in Florida.  They are by far the most common longwing seen in the Central Florida garden.

Late summer to fall is peak butterfly season in Florida. There are some 160 species of butterfly native to Florida and 200 species that migrate through the state. It is now mid-August and my butterfly garden is in full bloom.  I plant Sunflower, Cotton, Zinnia, Hamelia, Tithonia, Catharanthus, and Cosmos to attract a steady flight of butterflies.  These 7 species are the most hardy flowering plants that can survive the extreme heat and humidity of August and September in Florida.  

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Of the 7 species of flowering plants I plant to attract butterflies only 1, Hamelia, is native to this part of Florida.  Hamelia patens or Firebush, is a very tough Florida native, soft-stemmed shrub that can reach a height and width of 8-12 feet.  It sports bright orange-red flowers appearing in forking cymes at the tips of the branches throughout the year.  The slender flowers resemble matchsticks and reach a length of 1 to 1½ inches.  Hamelia is the primary food source for Florida's State Butterfly, the Zebra Longwing. 

These images were made over a few mid-August afternoons in my garden.

Florida is home to 10 swallowtail butterfly species, more than any other state. They are very easy to identify because of their strikingly large size and their ability to glide long distances between wing flaps.  Here a Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) feeds on a zinnia

One of the biggest challenges of the Florida Butterfly Garden is to maintain blooms through the most extreme weather of August and September.  It is important to weed for grasses that are endemic weeds across the central peninsula of Florida.  During dry periods water is required for all species except native hamelia and the giant version of Tithonia (T. diversifolia; Sunflower Tree). 

Sunflower Tree (below) presents other challenges as this invasive species will grow up to two feet a week in summer and fall.  It is necessary to constantly prune back this aggressive pantropical, Mexican native in the family Asteraceae.  However, one has to be aware that the tree will only bloom from mature limbs so where one wants blooms, let it grow.  

My favorite butterfly, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) P. glaucus has a wingspan measuring 7.9 to 14 cm (3.1 to 5.5 in). The male is yellow with four black "tiger stripes" on each forewing. Females may be either yellow or black.

The small version of Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower, T. rotundifolia) is sensitive to too much water and/or too little sunlight. The plant will rot from the stem if it stays too damp. Once established T. rotundifolia will quickly reseed itself.  Some years we have ideal conditions for Mexican Sunflower in Central Florida. 2020 is not one of those years.

The Gulf fritillary or passion butterfly (Agraulis vanillae) is a bright orange butterfly in the subfamily Heliconiinae of the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the most recognizable butterfly in Florida because of its abundance.  Here a pair of Gulf Fritillaries meet on Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia), one of their favorite flowers.

This summer I've had very poor luck with sunflowers in general.  I only have a few Mexican Sunflower that have survived the heat, humidity, long periods of dry, and periodic flooding rains.  Good thing for the Gulf Fritillary they are not host flower specific.  They will feed on any flower in the garden, especially zinnias.

Gulf fritillaries are drawn to the Mexican Sunflower because it is a widespread wildflower in a large part of their native range (mainland Mexico).  The plant struggles with Florida's difficult climate.  Particularly the humidity and extremely wet periods separated by long hot dry.

Why do predators spare the Gulf Fritillary?

Gulf fritillaries have a chemical defense mechanism in which they release odorous chemicals in response to predator sightings. As a result, common predators learn to avoid this species.  Pheromones play a critical role in male-female courtship behaviors, with male gulf fritillaries emitting sex pheromones that contribute to mate choice in females.

Papilio polyxenes, the (Eastern) Black Swallowtail, American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail, is a butterfly found throughout much of North America.  Currently there is a major flight of this butterfly ongoing in east Central Florida.

Where do butterflies spend the night?

Most butterflies are solitary and find shelter in dense plants overnight.  Bamboo is a favorite overnight location for butterfly perches.  Zebra Longwing butterflies (Heliconius charitonius) are different.  They congregate every night on a dead branch of a large live oak tree in something resembling a butterfly hive. 

Butterfly Hive:  Evidence of congregate over-nighting begs the question, why?  

Presumably Zebra Longwings perch together because there is safety in numbers. It is far less likely that a single butterfly will fall to a predator when there are many together. Another possible reason for this behavior is that the butterflies together resemble something like a large fungi growing on the dead branch, rather than a group of individual butterflies, thus also protecting them from predators. Finally, it could be that they are very social insects (less likely). This family of butterflies is the only butterfly known to exhibit this type of congregate hive behavior.

In general, butterflies spend the night or periods of inclement weather perched on the underside of leaves or they crawl deep between blades of grass or into crevices in rocks to find shelter and sleep. 

The roosting behavior of the Zebra Longwing is likely a complex evolution of an anti-predation strategy. It is fascinating to watch. To find your hive follow the butterflies early evening as they return to their collective roost. For best photos go back late night with a flashlight to photograph the butterfly hive.

Pictured here Zebra Longwings congregate around Hamelia patens (Firebush) by day. It helps the butterfly garden to surround the garden area with bamboo so the butterflies are protected from predators. 

I have bamboo hedges criss-crossed throughout my garden. The bamboo presents its own challenges. In Florida's sand bamboo will spread quickly if not maintained properly. If you don't have the time or ambition to maintain bamboo you probably should not plant it.

A Zebra Longwing hive perched on a dead live oak limb.

Cosmos and Zinnia brighten the Florida butterfly garden.

Here a Giant Swallowtail feeds on Zinnia.  This variety of Zinnia was purchased from Park's Seed and is called "California Giant."  They were expensive for zinnia seed but have yielded very hardy plants that are various shades of purple.

Giant Swallowtail on Zinna.

Zinnias are the favorite flower for most butterflies in the Florida butterfly garden.

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

To prepare for the fall butterfly garden season pick the dead heads off of zinnia.  Plant the harvested seed in September for a butterfly garden that will produce into December.

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

Black and Pipevine Swallowtails will also feed on periwinkle that while invasive is also endemic and hard-to-kill.  In Florida Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) is an invasive perennial.  Periwinkle grows best in full sun locations.

Black Swallowtail and Pipevine Swallowtail are very frenetic feeders and fliers so out of 100 photos 50 look like the one above, where I only capture a glimpse of the butterfly departing the flower.

Periodically one of these species will spend a little more time on the flower.  It helps to increase the lens speed when photographing Black Swallowtail and Pipevine Swallowtail as they are almost always in motion.

The cosmos in my butterfly garden were started from seed that I lifted from a garden I passed a lot in Debary in 2018.  Someone had let the cosmos take over their entire front yard.  I would wade into the yard and pull off the dry seed pods periodically and established my own self-sustaining garden of cosmos.

Cosmos is not a favorite of Florida butterflies, however, but it does brighten up the garden and attract butterflies, even if they don't find much pleasure in the drink.

Cloudless Sulphur Buttterfly (Phoebis sennae) on Hamelia patens (Firebush)

Above, the Cloudless Sulphur butterfly (Phoebis sennae) starts appearing mid-August and has multiple flights through fall.  Cloudless sulphur is particularly prominent in Florida during its fall southward migration.  Pictured above this almost completely yellow butterfly prefers to feed on native Hamelia patens (Firebush). 

Cloudless Sulphur lays her eggs on pea-species (genus Senna) and the most hardy for the Florida garden is the Emperor's Candlestick (Senna alta).  If you want to get photos of the wonderful yellow larva of the Cloudless Sulphur you'll want to cultivate some Emperor's Candlestick.

Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly Larvate on Senna alta

Phoebis sennae's genus name is derived from Phoebe the sister of Apollo, a god of Greek and Roman mythology.  The specific epithet, sennae, is for the genus Senna to which many of the cloudless sulphur's larval host plants belong.

Below, a Gulf Fritillary on some native Pineland Chaffhead (Carphephorus carnosus).  The butterfly does appear to drink from this Florida native.