The nectar-rich blossoms of the bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) are attracting lots of butterflies. With the help of the excellent guide on Alabama Butterfly Atlas, we identified this beautiful butterfly as a pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor). The butterfly uncoils its proboscis (an elongated sucking mouthpart that works like a straw) to probe and sip nectar from each flower. It’s important to provide nectar plants and larval host plants if you want butterflies. We will be planting host plant native pipevine, also called woolly Dutchman’s pipe (Isotrema tomentosum) in the Habitat Gardens for the caterpillars to eat.
We want more butterflies!