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Gardens

One often finds a number of different butterflies attracted to suburban flower gardens. If proper food plants for the larvae are also present, one may find different kinds of caterpillars.

Some of the families of butterflies often encountered in gardens include:

+ cabbage and sulphur butterflies (family Pieridae)

+ milkweed butterflies (family Danaidae)

+ brush footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae)

Family Nymphalidae

This family of butterflies is commonly known as brush-footed butterflies. It is the largest family of butterflies in the world with over 6,000 species. One example commonly encountered is the red spotted purple (ok, I didn't name this one). Species are often brightly colored.

You may not know it, but these butterflies have only 4 legs. Actually, they have 6 like most insects, but the front pair is significantly reduced (hence the common name). Caterpillars are often covered with spikes.
Family Pieridae

Members of this family are often called whites and sulphurs. Butterflies need to rid themselves of excess nitrogen. Some excrete this as urea or uric acid. Members of the family Pieridae often excrete this in the scales covering their wings. The name butterfly comes from this group. People thought these insects looked like bits of butter flying across the landscape. Keep in mind this is not butter, but uric acid (we excrete excess nitrogen in a more watery form called urine). Think of this the next time you encounter the term butterfly.
Family Danaidae

This is a tropical family represented in Illinois by a single species - the monarch. I never cease to be amazed at the feats of migration accomplished by this species. Keep in mind they spend the winter in the mountains of central Mexico. The begin the journey in spring, but lay eggs along the way and die. The next generation continues northward, again dying before reaching the final destination. It is the grandchildren of the ones who left Mexico that arrive in our northern climate. In the autumn, the process repeats in a southward direction.