Pollinator Week Day #3

What would your call this butterfly? A lot of people might call it a Monarch, but in fact, this showy pollinator is a type of Swallowtail Butterfly! It's a simple mistake to make, as both monarchs and swallowtails have dramatic black striping, but there is a very easy way to know which one you are seeing: Monarchs are ALWAYS bright orange and will never be any other colour. Our local Swallowtail species come in several shades of yellow and sometimes even white! There are tons of tips online on how to make a butterfly garden, but some of the most important things to remember are to avoid pesticides and choose native plants over ornamental species whenever possible. Pesticides might kill annoying insects, but they also kill everything else! While most butterflies will visit a variety of flowers for nectar, many of them still need specific native plant species on which to lay eggs. Some common host plants include native lupines, buckwheats, willows, and native bunchgrasses.