Page 16 - BRN April 2021
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  90% insects. Insects are critical in the diet of adult birds as well. You can’t love birds and not embrace insects!
Moth and butterfly larvae (caterpillars) typically feed on a very specific plant species, their “host” plant. The larval food is also different than that of the winged adult butterfly or moth. Having diverse food sources for different life stages is helpful in survival. Plants for adult nectar feeding are not as species specific, but moths are attracted to plants which have strong evening scents: Brickellia, honeysuckle, primrose, and Datura are examples. In this huge group of insects there are many stories. For example, although many adult Lepidoptera feed on nectar from flowers,
some feed on scat, carrion, or rotting fruit. Some caterpillars eat fungi and decaying plant materials.
Included here are a number of important native landscape plant species. Most of these are fairly available as nursery stock or from seeds. I have included some notes and a few examples of values as caterpillar hosts and as nectar producers. An * indicates that the plant is not common in the nursery industry, but is excellent to have in your yard. An # indicates that it has a wide range of tolerance from yards in the Desert Scrub to Pinyon- Juniper Woodland areas. Links (in red) are to photo galleries.
Monarch, Danus plexippus, on Horsetail Milkweed
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