Don't Throw Away Your Butterflies!!!
- Misty
- Sep 30, 2019
- 4 min read
Are you throwing your butterflies in the trash?
For most people, I can bet the answer is yes, but they may not even know it!
Did you know, there are roughly 12,000 species of moths, and 865 species of butterflies in North America? A vast majority of those moths and butterflies overwinter right in our backyards. If they don't migrate, they stay here. They make their cocoons and chrysalis to ride out the winter here in our leaf litter and dried leaves that are still on the plants. Astonishingly, a few butterflies even over winter here as adults. Fully-formed butterflies hiding under thick patches of leaves or tucked into the cracks of bark on trees. (The Milbert's Tortoiseshell, the Question Mark, the Mourning Cloak and the Eastern Comma are a few that overwinter here as fully formed adult butterflies)
While I have the luxury of living without homeowners associations or neighborhood rules, I realize not everyone does. Which makes it difficult when trying to preserve nature. Sadly most of their rules and guidelines do not take into account the natural habitat needed for wildlife to not only live, but flourish.
If you would like to participate and encourage more butterflies for your next season, maybe you can leave a small "wild area" somewhere on your property, where you put all the leaves and branches until it gets warm enough for all of your beautiful butterflies to come out. In the meantime, I encourage you to talk to your homeowners association or whoever makes the neighborhood guidelines and educate them on the importance of "why" you want to do this, help them to understand the old rules may need to have a second look for a sustainable future. It is an exciting time! More and more people, companies and governments are finally starting to see the benefit of pollinators and that new guidelines must be set in place to encourage their preservation!
I think many people, just don't know, often times, I even find myself wanting to do more, but I just don't know what to do. These are small changes, we can all make, and maybe get out of some yard work in the meantime. Because really, who enjoys yard work anyway?
It is best to try to leave the leaves and your small brush pile, until you have several steady days over 50 degrees. This will give your butterflies and all the other wildlife overwintering in your "wild area", a chance to move on and start their life in spring.
I know my main focus generally is butterflies, but they are not the only ones who will benefit your choice to leave things a little messier than you're used to.
Pictured above is the stem of a tiger lily. Notice the hollow stem, insects make winter homes in all sorts of places, just like this flower stem. By throwing these away, we are removing shelter needed for our wildlife to survive the winter.
So many different insects and animals depend on us leaving our yards messy. Birds will find overwintering insects to eat when food is scarce. The birds will also eat the seeds left behind from flowers and dried berries, that have shriveled over the winter.
About 75% of native bees create burrows in the ground, they too overwinter here. (another reason why it's so important not to spray our lawns with chemicals). Some bees overwinter in piles of leaves, others use the hollowed-out dried stems of flowers, or logs, and even under the bark in trees. Squirrels and other rodents depend on the fallen nuts from trees for their winter stash. Reptiles, amphibians, spiders, they all need sources of food to get them through the winter. Although some of these listed may not be your favorite creatures, they all play a vital role in our ecosystem and need a home for the winter too. (Did you know that bats, moths, beetles, ants, flies, wasps, mosquitoes, hummingbirds, and bees are all pollinators?)
Interestingly enough, if we try to leave things alone, and as natural as they should be, nature does an incredible job of balancing things out so we don't get overrun with bugs and other things that may be a nuisance.
By leaving all of your leaf litter and creating a habitat for our overwintering species you will also get the added bonus of having all of the hungry beneficial insects, ready to rid your garden of the pests you don't want when spring rolls around.
The extra layers of leaves and brush create homes for many of these species, so they can survive the winter months
When you're cleaning up your yard to get ready for winter, and raking your leaves to bring order back to your yard, don't forget, even though it looks like a bunch of dead leaves, there is so much life in there.
So this year, don't throw away your butterflies!
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