June is the time of year when a lot of our common butterflies start visiting the garden. We do have a plethora of butterflies, and some of them are quite spectacular. But many species are less likely to be seen or even known by many gardeners. There are 41 species of common butterflies found in the Central Great Plains Region. After those, there are 35 less common butterflies, and some rare strays.
Butterflies are mostly specialist feeders, meaning they need specific plants as hosts for their caterpillars. However, our region is a great place for the variety of butterflies we have, because it is in the meeting place of two major ecoregions: the tallgrass prairies and the eastern woodlands. Therefore, we have a lot of the plants it takes to attract common butterflies to our gardens.
Gardening for Common Butterflies
Before we dive into the 41 species of common butterflies, let us look at a some practices we can do in the garden to promote butterfly diversity. If you are already doing organic gardening, then you should be well on your way to butterfly diversity. But there are specific things yo do which can increase the numbers and kinds of common butterflies in your garden. And you will likely see some of the uncommon and rare ones too!
Try the following things in your garden to attract more butterflies:
- Eliminate pesticides – these can kill both the larvae and adult of the species from its habitat. If you must use insecticides (for Japanese beetles or EAB), then choose selective ones such as Bt for beetles. Spraying non-selective insecticides will always harm non-targets insects such as butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.
- Diversify your plantings – the more plants you have, the more butterflies you can get. Focus on adding plants that are hosts for the various common butterflies, or pollinator plants that provide nectar for adults flying through. Native plants are the best to use.
- Add water. All life needs water to thrive. For butterflies, as well as other pollinators, water is an important resource. The simplest thing to do is a birdbath with gravel or rocks in it for a landing spot. But there are many ways to add water to the garden.
- Garden messy – by letting plants grow out of your boundaries and into each other, you can create spaces for common butterflies to hide, lay their eggs, put their pupae cases, and overwinter.
- Do spring cleanups differently. Spring cleanup is usually done in March and April, which is fine. But instead of turning the garden into an immaculate desert, leave the leaves (this is where many insects overwinter) and cut hollow stems high (above 16 inches). This will leave overwintering sites for bees and butterflies alike.
Swallowtail Butterflies
There are 4 commonly seen swallowtail butterflies in our are, and 2 rarely seen. I will go over the common butterflies as well as some of the rare ones we might see each season. Swallowtail butterflies are in the Family Papilionidae, and include 550 species worldwide. The majority of them are tropical, but they can be found everywhere but Antarctica.
One of the main characteristics is that the larvae (caterpillars) have a repugnatorial organ called the osmeterium on their prothorax. When agitated or disturbed, inflates it with fluid and uses it to scare predators away, mainly with the strong scent coming from it. They also appear to have “tails” on their hindwings, which is responsible for the name swallowtails.
More information on swallowtail butterflies can be found here: https://www.grimmsgardens.com/swallowtail-butterflies-in-your-garden/
Pierid Butterflies
The Pieridae Family includes 76 genera and 1100 species worldwide, mostly in tropical Asia and Africa. There are around 60 species in the United Sates. The family include both sulphurs and whites, and they are medium sized butterflies. They mostly feed on plants in the Legume or Mustard families. Caterpillars of Pierids are usually green and smooth, with little variation. Overwintering as either pupae or larva, they can be best encouraged in the garden by not cleaning up weeding plants too soon in spring.
Host Plants
We have 4 common Pierids (in bold) in our region, and several less common species. Some are specialists and some are generalists, within different plant families. The Orange Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur, Little Yellow, and Sleepy Orange all feed on members of the Legume Family including:
- Wild senna
- Partridge pea
- Illinois bundleflower
- American wild licorice
- Roundhead bushclover
- Wild alfalfa
Pierids which feed exclusively on members of the Mustard Family include the checkered white, cabbage white (from Europe), Falcate Orange-tip, and Olympia marble (rare in our area). Plants in the mustard family include:
- Pinnate tansy-mustard
- Garlic mustard
- Shepherdspurse
- Dame’s rocket
- Blue mustard
- Toothwort
- Western wallflower
- Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli
The dainty sulphur is the only species in our region that feeds on weedy members of the Aster Family. Plants include:
- Fetid marigold
- Spanish needles
- Carpetweed
- Daisy fleabane
- Western ragweed
Common Butterflies – Gossamer-Winged
These butterflies, which include hairstreaks, blues, and elfins, are members of the Lycaenidae Family, which is the second largest with 6,000 species worldwide. They are so called because the wings of many of the species are very transparent and delicate that they resemble the sheer fabric known as gossamer. Here in the Central Great Plains we have 5 fairly common butterfly species in this family, and 7 rare or less commonly seen species.
Each species is different as far as host plants go, so make sure to add a variety of plants into your garden for them. They can be found nectaring on a variety of plants in the garden, but the following plants may be important for a variety of pollinators:
- Butterfly milkweed
- Hemp dogbane
- White clover
- Ornamental onion
- Blue sage
- Woolly verbena
- Common boneset
- Asters
- Goldenrods
Gossamer-winged butterflies typically overwinter as eggs on the host plant or in the chrysalis. These butterflies do not migrate, but stay close to their original breeding area.
Host Plants
As I said, most of them are different as individual species on host plants, but several species share host plants, especially in our region. I will highlight the commonly seen species with each host plant series.
The blues are specialists on legumes. These butterflies include the eastern-tailed blue, Reakirt’s blue, and Marine blue. Host plants for these include:
- Clovers
- Tick-trefoils
- False indigo
- Wild alfalfa
- Lead plant
- Lespdeza
- Illinois bundleflower
Similar to the blues are the azures; the spring and summer. These are considered the same and yet, separate, by there emergence dates. If you see one before June 1st, then it is a spring azure, if after June 1st, then it is a summer azure. They both feed on the same species of plants, mainly dogwood, viburnum, New Jersey tea, and wild spirea.
There are several species which utilize oaks, hickories, and walnut as their primary host plant. These include the hickory hairstreak, banded hairstreak, Northern oak hairstreak, white M hairstreak, and the striped hairstreak. Of these, the striped hairstreak also feeds on wild cherry/plum species.
Gray hairstreaks, which are the largest species, are also the most generalist, using more than 50 species of tree, shrub, perennial, and annual plant as its host. I have seen caterpillars of these common butterflies on tall sedum, wingstem, lavender, strawberry, leadplant, and hibiscus. The adults nectar on as many plants as the larvae feed on.
Other species include Henry’s elfin, which feeds on redbuds/wild plum/chokecherry; Juniper hairstreak which feeds on red cedar; the red-banded hairstreak which feeds on sumac; and the coral hairstreak which feeds on wild plums and cherries.
Common Butterflies – Fritillaries
The term fritillary has to do with the black checkered markings on the wings of these butterflies. One of these, the Regal Fritillary, is featured on the Kansas States’ Quarter. I think it should be our Kansas State insect. But I do not get everything I want. There are roughly 100 species of fritillaries worldwide, with 3 common and 1 rare species in the Central Great Plains. Two of these species overwinter on or near their host plant, and two of them are migratory, flying to warmer climates for winter.
Both the Great Spangled and Regal fritillary are homebodies. Overwintering as caterpillars in diapause (hibernation without eating), these butterflies stay near their host plants, which are native violets. While the Great Spangled is more generalist and will use a variety of violet species, the Regal is a snob, preferring birdsfoot violet in our region. Just like these two, the Variegated fritillary also uses violets as its host plant. But the rare one, the Gulf fritillary, uses passion vine or passionflower as its host plant.
Nectar Plants for Fritillaries
Fritillaries may only feed on a small group of plants, but they visit many flowers for nectar. You are not likely to see Regal fritillaries in your backyard, unless your backyard is the Flint Hills or some very high quality native prairie, but by adding any of the following plants you might see the other fritillary butterflies.
- Butterfly milkweed
- Prairie blazingstar
- Wavy-leaf Thistle
- Pale purple coneflower
- Purple coneflower
- New England aster
- Common milkweed
- Seven Sons tree
- Zinnias
Coppers & Harvester Butterflies
The Harvester butterfly is truly one of a kind. At least in the United States. There are some 50 species of harvesters worldwide, but only 1 in our country. Overwintering as a pupal case in the landscape, the Harvester is quite a cute little butterfly. It feeds only on woolly aphids. Yes, the caterpillars of the Harvester are our only predatory butterfly. Woolly aphids feed on a variety of plants, including:
- Apple
- Ash
- Oak
- Elm
- Greenbrier
I think I see Harvester butterflies at my house because I let greenbrier grow, instead of removing it.
Copper Butterflies
There are only 2 species of copper butterflies in our Region, the Gray and the Bronze. And neither of them are very common. I have seen Gray Copper butterflies near or in high quality meadows and prairies. Both species feed on species of docks and knotweeds. Also, both overwinter as eggs near or on their host plants. So if you want to see them, do not clean up your weedy edges too soon, or at all.
Common Butterflies – Checkerspots
These are so named because the of checkerboard patterning of their wings, between the colors of orange, black, and white. We have 3 common species and 1 uncommon to rare species in our region. Outside of our region, there are around 250 species worldwide. Our 3 common species do not migrate, but overwinter as larvae near their host plants. The Phaon crescent is an immigrant, flying south for the winter. It is also the only species to feed on fogfruit, a wetland plant common along ponds, lakes, and streams.
Host Plants
The Silvery Checkerspot, Gorgone Checkerspot, and the Pearl Crescent all feed on members of the Asteraceae Family. Those plants include:
- Rudbeckias
- Sunflowers
- Coneflowers
- Asters
- Ragweed
- Wingstem
Milkweed Butterflies
Despite having 450 species of milkweed butterflies worldwide, we only have 2 in the Central Great Plains. The Monarch is one of the most easily recognizable butterflies in the United States, though a lot of people get it and its mimics confused. But the Monarch feeds strictly on milkweeds, between 3 genera. The other butterfly in this category is the Queen, which is a rare stray in our area. But I saw my first one in the fall of 2024, here at the nursery. So they do travel a ways.
You can find more about how to protect Monarch butterflies here: https://www.grimmsgardens.com/how-to-protect-monarch-butterflies-with-gardening/
Brushfooted Butterflies
The milkweed butterflies, checkerspots, and fritillaries all fall under the brushfooted label. Also called four-footed, this family of butterflies is so called because they stand on 4 feet, keeping the other 2 curled up. This is the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6000 species worldwide. We have 12 common species and 5 uncommon to rare ones.
The American lady overwinters as an adult, and feeds primarily on pearly everlasting and pussytoes. Its cousin, the Painted Lady is a migrant, sometimes flying thousands of miles across the ocean. The Painted Lady feeds on a variety of plants, including thistles, soybeans, corn, and weeds.
The Mourning Cloak is similar to the anglewing butterflies, but has dark purplish wings bordered in bright white or pale yellow. It overwinters as an adult, and is often seen either in early spring, or late fall. Mourning Cloak butterflies rarely visit flowers, but may be found on rotting fruit or tree sap. I have observed one specimen on tall sedum in September. They use several trees as their host plant, including willow, elm, birch, cottonwood, and hackberry.
The Goatweed Leafwing is the only species of its kind in our region. This butterfly nearly disappears when at rest, looking like a leaf. Its outward coloration helps it blend in among other leaves. But when it is open, the pumpkin orange coloration is gorgeous. This species overwinters as an adult in leaf litter, and rarely if ever, feeds on nectar. Its larvae feed on members of the Croton Family, a common roadside weed.
Hackberry Butterflies
There are 3 species under hackberry butterflies, which only use members of the Celtis genus as their host plant. These are the American Snout, Hackberry Emperor, and Tawny Emperor. Both the Tawny and Hackberry emperors overwinter in the pupa stage, usually on the leaves of their host plant. The American snout is a migrant, which overwinters in Argentina.
Anglewings
There are 3 of these species of anglewings, 2 of which are fairly common in early spring, as they overwinter as adults in leaf litter. All of them rarely visit flowers, though I have seen them on common milkweed, purple coneflower, and spike blazingstar. The adults do tend to visit rotting fruit, animal droppings, and tree sap. Eastern Commas use nettles and hops as their host plant, while the Gray Comma uses wild gooseberry, and the Question Mark feeds on elm and hackberry.
The Common Buckeye
One of our prettiest butterflies, the Common Buckeye is a migrant, flying from Mexico, the Bahamas, and Cuba to our humble homes in the Central Great Plains. It does not like our winters! The eyespots on the upper wing surfaces are spectacular when seen fully open. The larvae feeds on various weedy plants including plantains, verbenas, wild lettuce, and false mulleins. Adults gather nectar from verbena, sedum, coneflowers, milkweeds, veronica, and various other garden flowers.
American Red Admiral
This butterfly, along with the anglewings, is one of the earliest flying butterflies in our region. It overwinters as an adult in our region, but in more northerly regions it flies southward to sunnier locales. The American Red Admiral does visit flowers, as well as rotting fruit and sap. I have observed it on coneflowers, blazingstars, crabapple, wild plums, and viburnums. Caterpillars of this species feed on nettles.
Admirals
Not to be confused with the American Red Admiral, these butterflies just have a similar family name. There are 2 species in our region, the Viceroy (a Monarch mimic) and the Red-Spotted Purple. Both of these butterflies use willow, cottonwood, wild cherry, serviceberry, and apple as host plants. And both have caterpillars that look like bird droppings and are very difficult to tell apart from one another. They overwinter as larvae, near or on their host plant. The adults of both feed on rotting fruit, sap, animal dung, and flowers with a higher nectar content such as milkweeds, butterfly bush, ornamental onion, tall sedum, and Seven sons tree.
Satyrs & Wood Nymphs
Funny names eh? These are quite jumpy butterflies, rarely resting where you can get a good photo. We have 2 species in our region, and 1 uncommon to rare species. They rest with their wings folded, and mainly feed on rotting fruit, animal dung, and sap, rarely on flowers. The larva of the Common Wood Nymph, Little Wood Satyr, and Northern Pearly Eye (rare) all feed on native grasses.
Common Butterflies – Skippers
One of the larger families of butterflies worldwide, with 2500 species. There are around 275 species in the United States, and 2 of 3 subfamilies in our region. These butterflies lave large eyes, stout bodies, and short antennae. And they primarily feed on nectar of flowers.
Grass Skippers
With around 2000 species worldwide, these skippers have around 140 species in North America. Most of these also have a hook, called an apiculus, at the end of each antennae. Adults perch with their wings shaped like a jet plane, or paper airplane. They overwinter as caterpillars within tent shelters made from grass blades. Species we have include:
- Huron Sachem – common
- Zabulon – common
- Tawny-edged – common
- Fiery – common
- Dun – common
- Delaware – common
- Least – uncommon
- Peck’s – uncommon
- Common roadside – uncommon
- Nysa roadside – uncommon
- Northern Broken-Dash – uncommon
- Cross-line – uncommon
- Dion – rare
- Eufala – rare
The caterpillars of all of these either feed exclusively on grasses or sedges. Adults can be found nectaring on various flowers including:
- Zinnias
- Clovers
- Verbena
- Milkweeds
- Lantana
- Coneflowers
- Blazingstars
- Joe Pye weed
- Thistles
- Asters
Spread-Wing Skippers
The spreadwing skippers are common butterflies who rest or sit with their wings laid flat, showing off their patterns. They are found throughout North America in a variety of habitats. Here in the Central Great Plains, we have 4 common species, and 4 less common species. I suppose, if you are in the right habitat for each one, then you would find more of the less common ones. But with such varied landscapes, separated by farm fields, we are less likely to find the uncommon species.
Unlike the grass skippers, spreadwing skippers use herbaceous plants to raise their young on. Some have quite a broad host range.
Common Spreadwing Skippers
The Silver-spotted Skipper is our most common skipper, across all types. I do not do nearly a good enough job reporting these as I should. These can be found in a variety of habitats, including open prairies, meadows, glades, wetlands, and even woodlands. Heavily forested areas are probably not going to host them though. The Silver-spotted skipper uses members of the Legume Family as its host. Another spreadwing which uses legumes is the Funereal Duskywing, which is a less common skipper. Caterpillars can be found on things like:
- American groundnut
- Honeylocust
- Black locust
- Wild Senna
- False Indigo
- Leadplant
- Baptisa
Two of our spreadwing-skippers, 1 common and 1 uncommon, use various weedy plants as their host. Weeds including amaranth (pigweed), lambsquarters, goosefoot, and ragweed all host both the Common Sootywing and Hayhurst’s Scallopwing.
The Common Checkered Skipper has one of the most boring names, and yet is one of the prettiest butterflies we have. Larvae of the Common Checkered Skipper feed on members of the Mallow Family, including hollyhocks, Venice Mallow, purple poppy mallow, and hardy hibiscus.
Two members of our spreadwing skippers feed on oak leaves. These are the Juvenal’s Duskywing and the Horace’s Duskywing. Along with all the other insects that feed on oaks, its not surprising to find to skippers doing the same.
Finally, the Wild Indigo Duskywing mainly feeds on baptisia, and sometimes vetch. It is a fairly common species, easily mistaken for the Common Sootywing.
Conclusion
When it comes to butterflies, gardeners are ready to do all they can for them. And by doing what is best for butterflies often has a rippling effect throughout the landscape, helping all pollinators in turn. One other thing we can do as stewards for butterflies is to observe, photograph, identify, and attach them to a data collection, such as iNaturalist or bugguide. The more data we have on what is out there, the more we can do to help them.
Happy planting!
