Butterfly host plants:

Planting butterfly host plants is a great way to attract butterflies. The females spend a longer amount of time on host plants than on nectar plants and even if you do not see the butterfly, you will be surprised how often a caterpillar appears on the plants. Butterflies have a high biotic potential in that they lay many eggs, but do not be surprised if you see all the caterpillars get eaten. Even though caterpillars use aposematic colouration, batesian mimicry, camouflage and concealment, survival rates around 5% or less are common. This is actually a good thing because caterpillars are essential for providing an energy pathway from plants to animals further up the food chain. Children love looking at caterpillars and if you want to increase your chances of finding them in your garden, plant host plants for common butterflies such as monarchs, black swallowtails or american ladies.

	A black swallowtail when threatened exposes its osmeterium, which is a defensive organ that gives off a foul smell to deter other invertebrates. This forked structure is possessed by all swallowtails.

 

This plant list includes butterflies that could be expected to be found in Southern Ontario (and therefore the surrounding areas in north eastern part of N. America). The list does not include butterflies restricted to holoarctic areas further North. Some of the plants on this list are highly unsuitable for gardens (such as Laportea, which have leaves that sting) or are exotic to Canada. Before attempting to grow any of these plants, make sure that they fit the ecology of your local area.

Actaea racemosa - Black Cohosh	Spring Azure
Althea rosea - Hollyhock	Checkered Skipper
Anaphalis margaritacea - Pearly Everlasting	American Painted Lady
Andropogon gerardii - Big Bluestem	Delaware skipper and Dusted skipper
Antennaria plantaginifolia - Pussy Toes	American Painted Lady
Anethum graveolens	Eastern Black Swallowtail
Antirrhinum majus - Snapdragon	Buckeye
Aristolochia macrophylla	Pipevine Swallowtail
It you live in Ontario, it is not recommended to plant Aristolochia because the PipeVine Swallowtail is rarely seen in this province. Choose host plants that will actually serve the butterflies in your area.
Aquilegia canadensis - Columbine	Columbine Duskywing
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Bearberry	Brown Elfin
Aristolochia sp. - Pipevine	Pipevine Swallowtail
Asclepias sp. - Milkweed	Monarch
Asimina triloba - Pawpaw	Zebra Swallowtail
Aster sp.	Silvery Crescentspot, Harris Checkerspot
Baptisia sp. - Wild Indigo	Wild Indigo Duskywing, Frosted Elfin
Carex sp. - Sedge	Eyed Brown, Appalachian Brown, Two Spotted Skipper, Dun Skipper, Mulberry Wing, Broad-Winged Skipper, Dion Skipper, Black Dash
Ceanothus - New Jersey Tea	Mottled Duskywing, Summer Azure
Celtis sp. - Hackberry Tree	American Snout, Question Mark, Morning Cloak (Camberwell Beauty), Hackberry Emperor, Tawny Emperor
Centaurea sp - Bachelors Buttons	Painted Lady
Cercis canadensis - Redbud	Henry's Elfin
Chelone glabra - Turtlehead	Baltimore Checkerspot
Cimifuga racemosa - Black Cohosh	Spring Azure
Cirsium sp. - Thistle (a few species are native )	Painted Lady
Cleome spinosa	Checkered White
Cornus sp. - Dogwood	Spring Azure
Corylus sp. - Hazel	Early Hairstreak
Crataegus sp. - Hawthorne	Striped Hairstreak, Southern Hairstreak, White Admiral, Hickory Hairstreak
Dactylis glomerata - Orchard grass	European Skipper
Dalea purpurea	Painted Lady
Daucus carota - Queen Anne's Lace	Eastern Black Swallowtail
Dentaria diphylla - Toothwort	West Virginia White
Desmodium - Tick Trefoil	Eastern Tailed Blue, Silver Spotted Skipper, Hoary Edge, Wild Indigo Dusky Wing
Digitaria sanguinalis - Crabgrass	Indian Skipper, Northern Broken-Dash, Sachem
Elymus repens - Creeping wild rye	European Skipper
Eragrostis - Tumblegrass	Leonardus Skipper
Erianthus sp. - Woolly Beardgrass	Delaware Skipper
Eriophorum spissum - Cottongrass	Jutta Arctic
Fagus grandifolia - American Beech	Early Hairstreak
Festuca sp.	Chryxus Arctic, Common Branded Skipper, Indian Skipper
Foeniculum vulgare - Dill	Black Swallowtail
Fraxinus sp. - Ash Tree	Tiger Swallotail, Hickory Hairstreak, Baltimore Checkerspot
Gaylussacia - Huckleberry	Henry's Elfin
Gleditsia triacanthos- Honey Locust Tree	Silver-Spotted Skipper
Glycyrrhiza - Wild Licorice	Silver-Spotted Skipper
Helianthus sp. - Sunflower	Silvery Crescentspot, Painted Lady
Humulus sp. - Hops	Question Mark, Comma, Red Admiral, Grey Hairstreak
Ilex - Holly	Striped Hairstreak
Juglans cinerea - Butternut	Banded Hairstreak and Hickory Hairstreak
Juniperus - Juniper	Juniper Hairstreak
Laportea canadensis- Wood Nettle	Eastern Comma and Red Admiral
Lathyrus- Wild Pea ( a few species )	Eastern Tailed Blue and Silvery Blue
Lespedeza - Bush Clover	Eastern Tailed Blue and Hoary Edge
Lindera benzoin - Spicebush	Spicebush Swallowtail and Promethea Moth
Linum - Flax	Variegated Fritillary
Liriodendron tulipifera - Tulip Tree	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Lolium - Ryegrass	Common Branded Skipper
Lotus sp. - Trefoil	Silvery Blue
Lupinus - Lupine	Frosted Elfin, Silvery Blue, Karner Blue, Persius Duskywing
Malus - Apple	Brown Elfin, Red Spotted Purple and Viceroy
Malva rotundifolia	Common Sootywing
Medicago sativa - Alfalfa	Orange Sulphur and Melissa Blue
Menispermum canadense - Canada moonseed	Variegated fritillary
Muhlenbergia sp. - Dropseed	Northern Pearly Eye
Oryza sativa - Rice	Edith's checkerspot
Oxyria digyna - Mountain sorrel	American Copper
Oxytropis sp.	Melissa Blue (rare)
Panicum sp. - Switch grass	Least skipper,Leonard's skipper, Indian skipper, Tawny-edged skipper, Northern broken dash, Delaware skipper, Broad-winged skipper.
Parietaria sp. - Pellitory	Red Admiral
Passiflora incarnata - Passion flower	Variegated fritillary
Phaseolus - Beans	Eastern tailed blue, Silver spotted skipper
Phleum pratense - Timothy	European skipper
Pinus sp. - Pines	Eastern Pine Elfin
Plantago sp. - Plantains (A few species are )	Variegated fritillary
Poa sp. - Bluegrass	Least skipper, Common branded skipper, Long dash skipper, Pepper and salt skipper, Common roadside skipper
Polygonum - knotweeds (many species are )	Bronze copper,Purplish copper, Bog fritillary
Populus sp - Poplars	Compton tortoiseshell, Mourning cloak, White admiral,Viceroy, Dreamy duskywing, Persius duskywing (rare)
Potentilla fruticosa	Dorcas copper, Purplish copper
Prunus sp. - Cherries	Tiger swallowtail, Henry's elfin, Striped hairstreak, Coral hairstreak, Viceroy,
Hop trees are a host plant for the Giant Swallowtail. They grow well in dry and partly sunny conditions. As shrubs go, they are not too big and are easily included in a wildlife garden.
Ptelea trifoliata - Hop tree	Giant swallowtail
Quercus sp. - Oaks	Banded hairstreak, Edward's hairstreak, Striped hairstreak, Northern hairstreak, Gray hairstreak, Sleepy duskywing, Juvenal's duskywing, Horace's duskywing (rare migrant).
Rhododendron sp. (some )	Hoary Comma
Ribes sp. - Currants	Hoary Comma
Robinia pseudoacacia	Silver spotted skipper
Rudbeckia sp. - Yellow Coneflower	Silvery checkerspot and Gorgone checkerspot.
Rumex sp. - Sorrel or Dock	American copper and Bronze copper
Ruta graveolens - Rue	Eastern black swallowtail
Salix - Willow	Acadian hairstreak, Striped hairstreak, Bog fritillary, Arctic fritillary, Green comma, Compton tortoiseshell, Mourning cloak (Camberwell Beauty), White admiral, Viceroy, Dreamy duskywing and Persius duskywing,
Sassafras	Spicebush swallowtail
Schizachyrium scoparium - Little blue stem	Ottoe skipper, Indian Skipper, Crossline Skipper and Dusted Skipper
Scirpus Mcyperinus - Woolgrass	Dion skipper
Sedum lanceolatum - Stonecrop	Variegated fritillary
Senna sp.	Orange-barred sulphur, cloudless sulphur and sleepy orange
Sida hermaphrodita - Virginia mallow	Common chequered skipper
Sisymbrium officinale - Hedge mustard	Olympia marblewing
Sorghastrum sp. - Indian grass	Pepper and salt skipper
Spiraea sp - Steeplebush or Hardhack or Meadowsweet	Eastern tailed blue
Stellaria sp. - Chickweed	Dwarf yellow
Tagetes sp. - Marigold	Dwarf yellow
Thlaspi arvense - Field pennycress	Veined white
Tridens flavus	Common wood nymph, Crossline skipper, Dun skipper and Little Glassywing
Trifolium sp. - Clover	Reakirt's Blue, European common blue
Ulmus sp. - Elm trees	Question Mark, Eastern comma, Hoary Comma and Mourning Cloak
Uniola latifola - River oats	Pepper and Salt Skipper and Roadside Skipper
Urtica sp. - Stinging nettle	Eastern Comma, Red Admiral and Milbert's Tortoiseshell
Zanthoxylum americanum - Prickly Ash	Giant Swallowtail
Zizia sp.	Black swallowtail

 

	The banded woolly bear caterpillar is the larva of the moth Pyrrharctia isabella. It feeds on a wide range of hostplants so you are quite likely to see this caterpillar in your garden. It will overwinter in the garden as a frozen caterpillar and pupate in the spring.

 

 

By butterfly:

 

Butterfly	Hostplants
Hesperids - Skippers
Checkered Skipper	Hibiscus, Hollyhock (Alcea), Mallow (Malva) and Prairie Mallow (Sidalcea)
Fiery Skipper (and many other skippers)	Grasses
Silver Spotted Skipper	Locust
Lycaenids - Coppers
Sping Azure	Cornus (Dogwood), Viburnum, Ceanothus americanus (New Jersey Tea), Vaccinium (Blueberry)
Bronze Copper	Dock (Rumex)
Small Copper	Sheep Sorrel and Curled Dock (Both Rumex)
Gray Hairstreak	A variety of wildflowers
Nymphalids - Brushfoots
Harris Checkerspot	Asters
Monarch	Milkweeds (Asclepias)
Baltimore Checkerspot	Turtlehead (Chelone)
Variegated Fritillary	Violet (Viola) and Plantain (Plantago)
Buckeye	Plantain (Plantago), Snapdragon (Antirrhinum) and Toadflax (Linaria)
White Admiral or Red-Spotted Purple	Birch, Willow and Poplar trees
Viceroy	Willow and Poplar trees
Compton Tortoiseshell	Aspen, Birch and Willow trees
Milberts Tortoiseshell	Nettles (Urtica)
Mourning Cloak (Camberwell Beauty)	Willow, Elm and Poplar trees
Pearl Crescentspot	Asters
Comma	Hops (Humulus) and Nettles (Urtica)
Question Mark	Elm and Hackberry trees; Hops (Humulus)
Great Spangled Fritillary	Violet (Viola)
Red Admiral	Nettles (Urtica)
Painted Lady	Thistle (Cirsium), Mallow (Malva) and Hollyhock (Althea)
American Painted Lady	Pearly Everlasting (Anaphilis) and Pussy Toes (Antennaria)
Papilionidae - Swallotails
Giant Swallowtail	Citrus fruits (Citrus), Gas plant (Dictamnus albus) and Prickly Ashes (Zanthoxylum)
Tiger Swallowtail	Wild Cherry (Prunus), Tulip tree (Liriodendron), Ashes (Fraxinus), Birches (Betula), Willow (Salix) and Cottonwood (Populus)
Pipevine Swallowtail	Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia)
Black Swallowtail	Parsley, Dill, Fennel, Queen Anne's Lace, Carrot, Alexanders and Caraway
Spicebush Swallowtail	Spicebush (Lindera) and Sassafras (Sassafras) and Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Pierids - Whites and Sulphurs
Orange Sulphur	Alfalfa, Vetches and Clover
Clouded Sulphur	Clover (Trifolium), Lupins (Lupinus) and other legumes.
Sleepy Orange	Wild Senna
Cloudless Sulphur	Wild Senna and Clover (Trifolium)
Veined White	Crucifers (Brassicaceae)
European Cabbage White	Cabbage, Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Radish and Nasturtium.