Overview
While many growers focus on attracting adult butterflies to their gardens, fewer know about the plants that caterpillars need to survive. Native host plants—wildflowers, trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and sedges—not only provide a site for the butterfly to lay its eggs, they also provide a ready food source for the emerging caterpillar. Think of these plants as the nurseries of the garden. This user-friendly, heavily illustrated field guide describes 101 native larval host plants in Texas. Each species account includes descriptive information on each plant, a distribution map, and photos of both the caterpillars and adult butterflies who frequent those plants. An adult butterfly may nectar on a wide variety of flowers, but caterpillars are much more restricted in their food sources. Some feed on only a limited number of plant species, so female butterflies seek out these specific plants to lay their eggs. For example, the host plants for Monarch caterpillars are various species of milkweed. Often, these plants are not the same as the ones the adult butterfly will later use for nectar. Learning more about the plants caterpillars need is crucial for butterfly conservation. Butterflies' dependency on specific caterpillar host plants is one of the key factors restricting their range and distribution. Armed with this knowledge, readers can also hone their ability to find specific species of breeding butterflies in nature. This is a handy guide whether you are in the field searching for butterflies or on the hunt for butterfly-friendly options at your local plant sale.
Full Product Details
Author: Jim Weber ,
Lynne M. Weber ,
Roland H. Wauer
Publisher: Texas A & M University Press
Imprint: Texas A & M University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.40cm
, Height: 1.50cm
, Length: 23.60cm
Weight: 0.569kg
ISBN: 9781623496463
ISBN 10: 1623496462
Pages: 260
Publication Date: 30 July 2018
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Temporarily unavailable
The supplier advises that this item is temporarily unavailable. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out to you.
Reviews
A beautiful, inspiring tool for those wishing to understand the relationships between native plants and butterflies."""" - Jim Brock, author of Butterflies of North America and A Field Guide to Caterpillars
A beautiful, inspiring tool for those wishing to understand the relationships between native plants and butterflies. --Jim Brock, author of Butterflies of North America and A Field Guide to Caterpillars --Jim Brock
"A beautiful, inspiring tool for those wishing to understand the relationships between native plants and butterflies."""" - Jim Brock, author of Butterflies of North America and A Field Guide to Caterpillars"
A beautiful, inspiring tool for those wishing to understand the relationships between native plants and butterflies. - Jim Brock, author of Butterflies of North America and A Field Guide to Caterpillars
Author Information
Jim Weber and Lynne Weber are retired from the tech industry in Austin, where Lynne was a senior manager and Jim was a senior engineer. Both are certified Texas Master Naturalists and are the coauthors of Nature Watch Austin and Nature Watch Big Bend. They live in Austin. Roland """"Ro"""" Wauer is a naturalist whose career included thirty-two years with the National Park Service. He is the author and coauthor of numerous books, including Heralds of Spring in Texas and Naturalist's Big Bend. He resides in Bryan, Texas.
