Planting for Specialist Butterflies

a large caterpillar with yellow, white, and black stripes with long tentacles (antennae-like structures) sits on the wide green leaf of a milkweed plant with pale pink flowers in a forested area.
Courtesy: Grace Villmow

Written by Grace Villmow, SDSU Natural Resource Management graduate student, under the direction and review of Lora Perkins, SDSU Associate Professor in Natural Resource Management, Amanda Bachmann, and Kristine Lang.

Monarchs are famous for eating milkweed and only milkweed as caterpillars. Milkweed is the monarch caterpillar’s host plant, or exclusive home and food source. Adult butterflies can access nectar on a variety of different flowers, but to complete their lifecycle, monarchs must have access to milkweed.

Monarchs are not the only specialist pollinators here in South Dakota. Many other butterflies also require a specific plant or family of plants to lay eggs on. Read on for a list of important host plants to help specialist butterflies in your yard!

Specialist Host Plants

Milkweed

(Asclepias ssp.)

a large caterpillar with yellow, white, and black stripes with long tentacles (antennae-like structures) sits on the wide green leaf of a milkweed plant with pale pink flowers in a forested area.
Figure 1. A monarch caterpillar sits on a green common milkweed leaf in a forested area. Courtesy: Grace Villmow
 

Monarchs will lay eggs on all sorts of milkweed (Figure 1), and so will milkweed tussock moths! Where monarchs only lay one or two eggs per plant, milkweed tussock moths lay a large egg mass, resulting in dozens of caterpillars.

Violets

(Viola ssp.)

A large orange butterfly with white spots feeding on a pale pink flower in a green grassy area.
Figure 2. An orange great spangled fritillary butterfly nectars at a common milkweed plant in a prairie. Courtesy: Grace Villmow
 

These little flowers have a mighty host – fritillary butterflies (Figure 2)! Common fritillaries of the Dakotas include the great spangled fritillary and regal fritillary. Violets are low-growing, shade-tolerant plants that can even function as a low-traffic grass lawn.

Clovers

(Dalea ssp.,)

A picture of three small bright purple flowers surrounded by tall grass.
Figure 3. Three purple prairie clovers (Dalea purpurea) in bloom in a prairie. Courtesy: Grace Villmow
 

Clouded and orange sulfur butterflies use clovers (Figure 3) and other native legumes as their host plant. Non-native legumes, like sweet clover, can also host these small yellow butterflies.

Asters

(Symphyotrichum ssp.)

A close up photo of a tall plant with several bright purple flowers with thin petals and a deep yellow center. In the background are green leaves and a hiking trail.
Figure 4. A purple New England Aster in bloom. Courtesy: Grace Villmow
 

Many butterflies use asters as their host plant! The dainty sulfur is common only in the southern half of South Dakota, whereas the pearl crescent can be found across the state. Consider smooth blue aster, heath aster, and New England aster (Figure 4) for a variety of different colors in your yard.

Alexanders

(Zizia ssp.)

A photo of a large black butterfly with orange and blue spots sitting with its wings closed on a tall grass. To its left, its green and brown chrysalis remains attached to another stalk in the grassy area.
Figure 5. A freshly eclosed black swallowtail rests as it pumps blood into its wings in a grassy area. To its left, its empty chrysalis is still tethered to the stem of a plant. Courtesy: Grace Villmow
 

The black swallowtail (Figure 5) lays its eggs on all members of the carrot family, so you might also find their caterpillars in your herb garden! To save your dill and parsley, try planting golden or heartleaf alexanders.

Cudweed sagewort

(Artemisia ludoviciana)

Artemisia ludoviciana growing in a garden.
Figure 6. Artemisia ludoviciana. Courtesy: Mary Ellen (Mel) Harte, Bugwood.org
 

The American lady butterfly lays her eggs on a variety of native plants, but cudweed sagewort and pearly everlasting are frequently listed in butterfly guidebooks as their primary hosts.

Reference and Resource

  • Marrone, Gary M. (2002) Field Guide to Butterflies of South Dakota. South Dakota Game Fish and Parks.

Related Topics

Pollinators, Flower, Plant, Conservation, Vegetable

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