Resident Butterfly on my Lantana camara

[wengchun]

I think this should be a Pygmy Grass Blue (Zizula hylax).

This species have been attracted to the Lantana camara in front of my house ever since I planted the plant years ago.

http://www.nature2pixel.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/PygymyGrassBlue001.jpg

[Commander]

Yes, that's a Pygmy Grass Blue. Lantana is one of the caterpillar host plants of this species, and that's why the butterfly is attracted to it. The adults also feed on the nectar from the flowers.

[Psyche]

You got it right. I remember the female always oviposits on the Lantana flowerheads, but I have never seen the cats anywhere.

TL Seow:cheers:

[wengchun]

You got it right. I remember the female always oviposits on the Lantana flowerheads, but I have never seen the cats anywhere.

TL Seow:cheers:

on the flower? ok. will search carefully. I just trimmed the plant this morning and throw all the rest. probably along with the cats.:hmmm:

[wengchun]

Yes, that's a Pygmy Grass Blue. Lantana is one of the caterpillar host plants of this species, and that's why the butterfly is attracted to it. The adults also feed on the nectar from the flowers.

thanks for the confirmation. i wonder why other species doesn't come to this plant in front of my house except for the Pygmy Grass Blue. :hmmm:

[Commander]

We've noticed that the favourite Lantana that attracts more butterflies than the others, is the orange-red variety. The white and yellow ones attract the least, whilst the pink ones are not as good. So if you want to grow Lantana to attract butts, go for the orange-red ones.

Also, the small-leafed cultivars are virtually useless. Go for the big-leafed Lantanas.

[wengchun]

We've noticed that the favourite Lantana that attracts more butterflies than the others, is the orange-red variety. The white and yellow ones attract the least, whilst the pink ones are not as good. So if you want to grow Lantana to attract butts, go for the orange-red ones.

Also, the small-leafed cultivars are virtually useless. Go for the big-leafed Lantanas.

Well, that's what I have planted. orange-red flowers and the leafs are big too. I'm planning to collect a few flowering plants. Let's see if I'm successful attracting more species.

[Psyche]

on the flower? ok. will search carefully. I just trimmed the plant this morning and throw all the rest. probably along with the cats.:hmmm:

It lays eggs on the small unopened flower buds.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Glorious Begum]

It lays eggs on the small unopened flower buds.

TL Seow:cheers:

Yes, I collected it once but I gave up searching for it when I want to photograph it. It is very tiny. :bsmile:

[Painted Jezebel]

Also, the small-leafed cultivars are virtually useless. Go for the big-leafed Lantanas.

Have to disagree here. My small leafed Lantana is a magnet for many species, including most of the Crows, Autumn Leaf, Catopsillia species, Cephrenes Potanthus, Suastus, Pelopidas sps and Dryas iulia, etc, etc.

[Psyche]

Have to disagree here. My small leafed Lantana is a magnet for many species, including most of the Crows, Autumn Leaf, Catopsillia species, Cephrenes Potanthus, Suastus, Pelopidas sps and Dryas iulia, etc, etc.

Les, what colours are the flowers of your plant. I used to have a pot of a dwarf variety which have colouful magenta, pink and orange flowers, and this attracts nothing, not even the Zizula. These dwarf cultivars are supposed to be of a different species, which I think is Lantana montevideo or something like that.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Commander]

Have to disagree here. My small leafed Lantana is a magnet for many species, including most of the Crows, Autumn Leaf, Catopsillia species, Cephrenes Potanthus, Suastus, Pelopidas sps and Dryas iulia, etc, etc.

Maybe we should import these Thai Lantana then. Either that, or the southern butts are more fussy when it comes to their nectaring plants! :bsmile: When NParks landscaped some of their urban gardens, they used these small-leafed Lantana as low border cover - often in large swathes. At the back, there were the big-leafed Lantana. All the butts were at the big-leafed variety, and left the border plants unvisited.

It was the same at Alexandra Hospital's butt trail when we first tried the smaller leafed ones (which apparently are more hardy and resistant to the leaf mould disease)


Les, what colours are the flowers of your plant. I used to have a pot of a dwarf variety which have colouful magenta, pink and orange flowers, and this attracts nothing, not even the Zizula. These dwarf cultivars are supposed to be of a different species, which I think is Lantana montevideo or something like that.

Same experience over here in Singapore. Other than some bees, these colourful flowers don't seem to have the same attractiveness as their large-leafed cousins.

Geographical preferences is a strange phenomenon. What David is showing us from Australia - the Butterfly Bush (Buddleia spp) is a very successful butterfly magnet. However, when we brought it over to Singapore and cultivated it, there were absolutely no butterfly visitors at all! I wonder why?? :thinking:

[Painted Jezebel]

Les, what colours are the flowers of your plant. I used to have a pot of a dwarf variety which have colouful magenta, pink and orange flowers, and this attracts nothing, not even the Zizula. These dwarf cultivars are supposed to be of a different species, which I think is Lantana montevideo or something like that.

TL Seow:cheers:

Multicoloured, - White, Yellow, Pink, Orange and Magenta.

All work wonderfully.

[wengchun]

:hmmm: :thinking:

I think the geographical factor should be the reason. Not sure if the small leaf variety Lantana would attract butts here in Kuala Lumpur. Let me check and inform you guys.

[WillFolsom]

A casual observation from Virginia where we have planted several Butterfly Bushes import from Asia. We have a small butterfly garden that has several large butterfly bushes that grow each year. The white colored flowers typically tend to attract more butterflies than the purple ones do ... during one year... but then the purple plants attract more the following year. We have yellow flowered plants that seemingly are ignored no matter what the year. Just an odd observation. William

[Commander]

Interesting observations and discussions just from Weng Chun's Lantana plants! :bsmile:

We don't know enough as to how a plant makes itself "attractive" to its pollinators. I've seen a row of flowering plants, but only one or two specific ones attract butterflies and bees, whilst similar plants in the row has "no business"!

Geographical and environmental factors also contribute, as Weng Chun suggested. It's just like we humans. For example, if we were to offer Bill our "King of Fruits" - durians, he would probably head for the bathroom after even smelling it, much less taste it! Same as what I would do, if my European friends offer me their favourite blue cheese. :sweat:

So maybe butterflies across the different parts of the world also have their taste preferences modified by the regions where they "grew" up in? :thinking:

[Painted Jezebel]

Whilst we are talking about butterfly attractants, I notice that there is one species missing from your threads, which is Caesalpinia pulcherrima, or the Pride of Barbados, or in Malay, Jambol merak or Cana. This species regularly attracts many of the Swallowtails, including the Common Birdwing and also Catopsilia species, or at least it does up here. Indeed, whilst I am typing this, I can see one Troides helena cerberus, two male Papilio memnon, one female memnon f. agenor, one f. distantianus, one P. demolion, two P. polytes and a P. demoleus.

[Commander]

The butt-flower threads are just the first instalment. Yes, Caesalpinia (what we call Peacock Flower here), Clerodendron (Pagoda Flower), etc etc will follow eventually. That would give us a good stock of blog articles in the backburner for this series, when we run out of life history articles in about a year's time. :grin2:

[Psyche]

Whilst we are talking about butterfly attractants, I notice that there is one species missing from your threads, which is Caesalpinia pulcherrima, or the Pride of Barbados, or in Malay, Jambol merak or Cana. This species regularly attracts many of the Swallowtails, including the Common Birdwing and also Catopsilia species, or at least it does up here. Indeed, whilst I am typing this, I can see one Troides helena cerberus, two male Papilio memnon, one female memnon f. agenor, one f. distantianus, one P. demolion, two P. polytes and a P. demoleus.

This is quite amazing. Caesalpinia pulcherrima is commonly planted in Malaysia, but I have yet to see a butterfly on it .

I have always wondered why this is so when the closely related flaming Bauhinia of the forest is a magnet for all Papilionids especially Birdwings.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Commander]

This is quite amazing. Caesalpinia pulcherrima is commonly planted in Malaysia, but I have yet to see a butterfly on it .

C. pulcherrima is cultivated here too, with the orange-yellow flowers and another cultivar with predominantly yellow flowers. The Grass Yellows love it, as their cats also feed on this Leguminosae. As for the Papilionidae, so far I've only seen Common Mormons going for it. But then again, Birdwings, Great Mormons and the others that Les mentioned are not as common here.

In my old collecting days in Kedah, I used to net Pachliopta coon (Common Clubtails) feeding on these flowers as well. They were common up in Kedawi, but I've yet to see a live one this far south of the Malay Peninsula. :-(

[atronox]

Those small plants are probably extensively hybridised/bred so they do not share traits with the "wild types" which butterfies find attractive.