rossberryhill's Journal
According to the wide diversity of butterflies who nectar on these in our yard:
They fill a time gap when few other plants are flowering. And, they thrive in heavily disturbed environments, including mowed lawns.
Pearl Crescent butterflies are abundant and have nectared on just about every flowering plant currently available since they first appeared two weeks ago: Roundleaf Ragwort, Philadelphia Fleabane, White Clover, Common Dandelion, Slender Yellow Woodsorrel, Oxeye Daisy, Common Cinquefoil. Observations attached below.
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.
A few adult Summer Azure butterflies appeared to be gleaning food from the surface of leaves over a period of a few days. Maybe it was nectar and/or pollen that had fallen from nearby trees? Or, honeydew from aphids? Clouds of pollen were visible during the preceding days. And, the Tulip Trees were blooming. Anecdotal information indicates that Tulip Trees generate significant quantities of nectar. Observations of the butterflies are attached below. They were exclusively on Wild Bergamot and Southern Mount Mint plants at the edge of the yard.
