WE – at any age – can help butterflies and make a difference.

The number and the variety of butterflies are declining across the United States.

By learning more about butterflies, students can play a key role in protecting them now and in the future.

Let’s start today!

Butterflies of the Month

Martial Scrub Hairstreak

This butterfly is uncommon and rare (considered imperiled) in South Florida

Scientific Name: Strymon martialis
Wingspan: 1 1/8 – 1 3/8 inches.
Life History: Young caterpillars feed on new leaves, flowers, and fruits; full-grown caterpillars can feed on older leaves.
Caterpillar Host Plants: Florida trema and bay cedar
Adult Food: Nectar from flowers including bay cedar, lantana, Brazilian pepper, shepherd’s needle, and lippia.

Giant Swallowtail

This large and striking butterfly is very abundant in South Florida

Scientific Name: Papilio cresphontes
Wingspan: 4 – 6.25 inches.
Life History: Females lay single eggs on host leaves and twigs. Caterpillars resemble bird droppings.
Caterpillar Host Plants: Trees and herbs of the citrus family (like wild lime), prickly ash, hop tree, and common rue.
Adult Food: Nectar from lantana, azalea, bougainvillea, dame’s rocket, goldenrod, Japanese honeysuckle, and swamp milkweed

Zebra Longwing

This is the state butterfly in Florida, and it is seen regularly in our geography

Scientific Name: Heliconius charithonia
Wingspan: 2 3/4 – 4 inches
Life History: Eggs are laid in groups of 5-15 on host plant leaves. The caterpillar is white with black spots and black spines. Butterflies roost in groups of 25-30 individuals.
Caterpillar Host Plants: Different types of Passion-vines including Passiflora suberosa and Passiflora incarnata
Adult Food: Butterflies feed on both flower nectar and pollen, enabling them to survive far longer than most other butterflies. Favorite plants include lantana and shepherd’s needle.

Latest News

It’s National Pollinator Week and Our Pollinators are in Trouble

by Administrator | Jun 25, 2021 | NEWS

National Pollinator Week: Help Our Pollinators June 21-27, 2021 is National Pollinator Week. Bees, bats, birds and butterflies do us an important service: As they visit flowers to feed on nectar, they carry pollen from plant to plant. This movement of pollen from a...

Monarch butterfly population moves closer to extinction

by Administrator | Jan 21, 2021 | NEWS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The number of western monarch butterflies wintering along the California coast has plummeted precipitously to a record low, putting the orange-and-black insects closer to extinction, researchers announced Tuesday. An annual winter count by the...

Our butterflies and bugs are disappearing: “The Windshield Phenomenon” and why it matters.

by Administrator | Jun 10, 2020 | BUTTERFLY FACTS

Where have all the insects gone? Entomologists call it the windshield phenomenon. "If you talk to people, they have a gut feeling. They remember how insects used to smash on your windscreen," says Wolfgang Wägele, director of the Leibniz Institute for Animal...