Some butterflies of our area and their larval food plants:


Red Admiral

Red Admiral, Question Mark, Comma, and Painted Lady will all use Stinging Nettles as well as other plants.

Stinging Nettle

Monarch butterfly

Monarch: Milkweeds

Milkweed

Eastern Tailed Blue: Various legumes

Spring Azure: Flowering parts of Viburnum, Cherries, and Dogwood


Eastern Wood Nymph, Northern Pearly Eye, Long Dash, Broken Dash, Skippers, and Little Wood Satyr: Various grasses and sedges


Cabbage white: Plants of the cabbage and mustard family

Clouded Sulphur: Alfalfa


Black Swallowtail: Carrot family including Parsley, Fennel, Queen Anne's Lace

Tiger Swallowtail: Poplar and Cherry

Red Spotted Purple: Poplar, Cherry, Aspen, Black Oak

Mourning Cloak: Willows, Aspens


Meadow Fritillary and Great Spangled Fritillary: Violets


For more information on butterflies, check out the Urquhart Butterfly Garden in Dundas, or talk to Joanna Chapman at Chapman's Books in Dundas.