A random walk is a process of moving a short distance and then turning in a random direction to move another short distance, repeating indefinitely. Expect something more random than a textbook, but more entertaining. These articles are nominally about pollinator ecology. Or whatever interests me at the moment?

 

Pollination is performed by a number of animals, including bats, birds, bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and even lizards. In the Facebook page ?Lake Arenal Pollinator Education Page?, I have presented photos of a number of local butterflies. Today I decided to write about butterfly systematics. What makes a butterfly a Swallowtail, a Brushfoot, or a Skipper? Why would it matter?

 

There are seven family groups in the butterfly suborder, clade Rhopalocera. While there are many similar appearing butterflies within each family, the distinction between families is usually pretty clear in the field. Families not only share similar traits, but also caterpillars with preferences for similar groups of plants. If you want to have the best variety of local butterflies, it helps to plant these native food plants. While the butterflies must lay eggs on the plants that their offspring can eat, the butterflies themselves tend to be generalist feeders attracted to any nectar-bearing flower. The best butterfly habitat will combine specific food plants and general nectar-bearing flowers. Host plants should generally be native. For nectar plants, any brightly-colored non-invasive flower is fine.

 

Your butterfly book may indicate that there are only five butterfly families, in the suborder Papilionoidea. This group excludes the moth-like butterflies and the skippers. Since genetics indicates these groups are all descended from the same common ancestor, Papilionoidea is paraphyletic. Paraphyletic is a science term meaning roughly ?not quite right?. Before we could determine species genetics with fancy new science toys, we had to determine relatedness based on appearance. This science is termed systematics. The new approach to ordering species based on relation to a common ancestor is called cladistics. These fields have been colliding and fusing over a couple of decades, creating the expected mess. Don?t worry too much about the terms. Today?s discussion is a gloss anyway. Gloss is just a writer?s term for ?not quite right, but we don?t have all day?.

 

We begin with family Hedylidae, American Moth-butterflies. If you see one, you are going to say it is a moth. Until recent molecular and cladistic studies, they were all considered to be moths. I would not be surprised if the classification changes again. All of these have an appearance similar to that of geometer moths. They are small, generally brown, patterned, and have un-clubbed antennae (usually feather or comb shaped). The bodies are long and thin. The forewing and hindwing are linked together by a structure called a retinaculum, generally absent in other butterflies. They usually fly at night and are attracted by bright lights. They won?t do much for your butterfly garden. If you are a bat or a nightjar, they will probably interest you.

 

Skippers (Hesperiidea) are a large family of butterflies. Many of these rest with partially overlapped wings, appearing somewhat triangular. Others rest with fully flattened wings. They are identified by clubs on the antennae that are hooked backwards. They tend to have plump bodies and small wings compared to their body size. They tend to have much larger compound eyes than other butterflies. They usually have drab colors and will seldom have green color or metallic iridescense. Their host plants are typically grasses. To increase skippers in your garden, leave some grasses to grow to maturity. Since this tends to look more like neglect of your garden than butterfly friendliness, leaving some unmown meadow areas near your butterfly garden is optimal. The butterfly stage is attracted to legumes and composites.

 

Left: typical skipper with partially overlapping wings, large compound eye, and dull coloration. Right: skippers can have some bright coloration, like this Guava Skipper, a Firetip.

 

Lycaenidae include Blues, Coppers and Hairstreaks. These tend to be small (around a centimeter), brightly colored, and adorned with eyespots and small tails. If you are looking at a small butterfly and having difficulty determining which end is the head, it is a hairstreak. The butterfly will increase the illusion that the tail is actually the head by slowly rubbing together its lower wings, making the tails move like antennae. This tricks predators into attacking the wrong end. Blues and coppers tend to have iridescent scales and fringe-like margins to the wings. Around three-quarters of Lycaenid caterpillars have associations with ants, who protect them in return for honeydew received from the caterpillar. In later instars, the caterpillar my turn on the ants and eat the ant larvae. Some of their caterpillars also eat aphids and scale insects. The Lycaenids have a wide array of host plants; about half prefer legumes, so legumes you plant to attract other butterflies will often serve as host plants. Typical Costa Rican plants that serve as hosts include succulents like Stonecrop (Crassulaceae), Macadamia and Palo de Papa (Proteaceae), Malay Apple and Guayaba (Myrtaceae), Lengua de Gato and Glory Bush (Melastomatacea), Tropical Almond (Combretacea), Wild Cashew, Cashew and Mango (Anacardiaceae), Rambutan (Sapindaceae), Coral Vine (Polygonacaea), Oaks (Fagaceae) and the epiphyte Satyria meiantha (Ericaceae). These plants are mostly trees that are hopefully growing in the meadow near your butterfly garden.

 

Typical hairstreak with ?two heads?.

 

Next are the Nymphalidae or Brushfoots, the largest family of butterflies. These typically have markedly reduced forelimbs and therefore appear to have only 4 legs. The diminished forelimb feet may have a brush-like appearance due to multiple hairs. The dorsal wings are usually brightly colored and the ventral wings typically dull and cryptic (camouflaged). Not surprisingly, these tend to rest with folded wings to maximize the camouflage. The bright flashes of dorsal wings during flight create dazzle camouflage. This makes targeting by predators more difficult, especially when combined with the irregular flight pattern. There are multiple subgroups, each with a different set of host plants. This article would be much too long if I listed all of these plants.

 

Typical brushfoot with resting on four legs. Crypic ventral wing (left) bright dorsal wing (right).

 

Of particular note, however, are the Danainae or milkweed butterflies and the Heliconiinae. The former steal their protective chemicals from milkweeds (notably Butterfly Weed, Asclepias curassavica). The latter depend not on heliconia, as the name would imply, but on Passion fruit (Passifloraceae). Please do not plant non-native milkweeds hoping to increase milkweed butterflies. The non-native species are generally poisonous to the native butterfly caterpillars.

 

Asclepias curassavica

Left: Monarch, the iconic milkweed butterfly. Right: Typical Heliconian

The easiest butterflies to identify are the Papilionidea or Swallowtails. These are generally large with prominent tails on the hindwings. Host plants include citrus (Rutaceae), soursop and ylang-ylang (Annonaceae), plants in the wild carrot family (Apiaceae) and Aristolochia grandiflora (Aristolochiaceae). If you are a gardener, you should already be growing Aristolochia for its beautiful weirdness.

 

Mating Swallowtail butterflies. Typical White. Typical Yellow

 

Next are the Pieridae, Whites and Yellows. The yellow of Yellows gave butterflies their name. These generally are white or yellow (duh) and primarily use the cabbage family (Brassicaceae) as host plants. For this reason, they can be serious agricultural pests. Use row covers for your broccoli or cabbage and co-plant some other Brassica for the butterflies. This is the most common family of butterflies that is encountered ?puddling?, obtaining minerals from muddy ground or from excreta. Butterflies from any of the other families may also be seen puddling. In addition to host plants and nectar plants, rotting fruit may attract butterflies. Consider adding a fruit feeder to your butterfly garden.

 

The final group is Riodinidae or Metalmarks. These usually have small, metallic appearing marks on the wings. These butterflies tend to have vibrant green and blue structural colors as well as many orange and yellow markings. The structural colors are generally iridescent. Host plants are extremely varied; any reasonably diverse garden will contain at least some appropriate host plants. Their host plants uniquely (for butterflies) include orchids, gingers, bryophytes and lichens.

 

Typical Metalmark

 

Knowing something about butterfly families can reduce the time needed for identification to the species level. It can help you select appropriate plants for a butterfly garden. The flowers you plant for butterflies will generally also attract a variety of bees. The addition of native plants to your garden can increase the enjoyment of your garden by attracting a variety of beautiful butterflies to hover about the flowers.

 

 

*Dr. Timmons earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in Chemistry at Texas A&M University and a Doctorate in Medicine at the University of Texas.