Want Butterflies? You Need Host Plants!
Updated: May 3, 2022
Everybody wants a butterfly garden to see these magnificent creatures flitting from flower to flower. Unfortunately, the most important part is usually overlooked, the host plants. Host plants are specific plants that feed the larval stage of the lovely butterfly. Here’s a short list of host plants and the larvae they are hosting.
Acer rubrum (Red Maple) - Cecropia Moth
Actaea racemosa - Black Cohosh - Spring Azure
Apios americanus (American Groundnut) - Silver-spotted Skipper
Aquilegia canadensis (Wild Columbine) - Columbine Duskywing
Amorpha canescens (Lead Plant) - Dogface sulfur, Gray Hairstreak
Andropogon gerardii (Big Bluestem) - Delaware Skipper, Dusted Skipper, Cobweb Skipper
Aristolochia durior (Dutchman’s Pipe) - Pipevine swallowtail
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Bearberry) - Hoary Elfin, Brown Elfin
Aronia arbutifolia (Red Chokeberry) - Coral Hairstreak
Aruncus dioicus (Goat’s Beard) - Dusky Azure
Asarum canadense (Wild Ginger) : Pipevine swallowtail
Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed), Asclepias incarnata ssp pulchra (Showy Swamp Milkweed), Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Weed), Asclepias exaltata (Poke Milkweed), Asclepias verticillata (Whorled Milkweed), Asclepias syriaca (Common Milkweed), Asclepias speciosa (Showy Milkweed)
Asimina triloba (Paw Paw) - Zebra swallowtail, Pawpaw Sphinx
Aster laeve (Smooth Aster) - Pearl Crescent
Aster novae angliae (New England Aster) - Pearl Crescent, Checkerspot
Aster novae belgii (New York Aster) - Pearl Crescent
Aster umbellatus (Flat-topped Aster) - Pearl Crescent, Harris’ Checkerspot
Baptisia australis (False Indigo) - Wild Indigo Duskywing, Eastern Tailed-Blue, Orange Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur, Frosted Elfin, and Hoary Edge