There have been a large number of Little Wood Satyr butterflies floating around the edge of our yard for the last few days. Many dozens.

One of Little Wood Satyr’s larval host plants is Virginia Wildrye. I’ve planted a lot of Wildrye (Elymus) over the last few years. Primarily Virginia Wildrye and Canada Wildrye. My hope was that the Wildryes would outcompete and eventually succeed the Japanese Stiltgrass which had invaded the edge of the woods. Wildryes are shade-tolerant cool season grasses. Japanese Stiltgrass is a shade-tolerant warm season grass.

The experiment has been successful so far. The Wildryes have been able to grow more rapidly and taller than Stiltgrass during the spring, enabling them to avoid being overwhelmed by Stiltgrass during the summer. Stiltgrass has been disappearing over time and is now just a small component of the mix.

And, it appears that a side benefit of using Wildryes to control Stiltgrass is: lots of Little Wood Satyrs floating around the edge of the woods.

Observations attached below.

Posted on May 15, 2024 09:40 PM by rossberryhill