Baltimore Checkerspot, © Ann Thering
Newest article: Wisconsin's Year in Butterflies 2016 Posted Oct 2016
Butterfly Sightings and Records
SWBA Butterfly Gardening fact sheet (pdf). Nectar and caterpillar food plants that do well in Wisconsin, and other guidelines on attracting butterflies to your yard.
NABA Butterfly Garden and Habitat Program. Regional gardening guides, lists of butterfly gardening plants, application for certifying your butterfly garden, and more. http://www.nababutterfly.com
Healthy Lawn Team is "a group of citizens in the Madison, Wisconsin, area who are concerned with the health and environmental effects of pesticide and synthetic fertilizer use." Butterflies of course are adversely affected by pesticides. Many valuable references can be found. http://www.healthylawnteam.org
NABA lists of host and nectar plants for west central Wisconsin (http://www.naba.org/ftp/wcwi.pdf) and southwestern Wisconsin (http://www.naba.org/ftp/swwi.pdf) (pdf files are free. Brochures can be ordered for fee.)
HOSTS-a Database of the World's Lepidopteran
Hostplants includes a comprehensive record of the plants that
caterpillars feed upon. You need to enter the scientific name, rather
than the common name, of the butterfly or plant:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/hostplants
http://www.monarchwatch.org/garden
Butterflies of Pheasant Branch Conservancy (Middleton, WI): http://lepidopteraresources.homestead.com/buttpheasantbranch.html
Just northwest of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Friends of Havenwoods Butterfly Checklist
Butterflies and Moths of North America. Generate a regional checklist for butterflies or moths for any county in Wisconsin or other state, also some foreign countries. Note that species that are very rare or have only historical records are not indicated on list. Also, some counties have limited data and thus may miss some species. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/checklists
Butterfly Habitat Management NEW! Surveying and Planting sections complete.
Butterfly Conservation Management in Midwestern Open Habitats by Ann B. Swengel
Another name for this could be, "How do I proceed when habitat management recommendations are so confusing and contradictory?" Butterfly declines and losses are being documented in the Midwest, and not just in the larger landscape, and not just in small, isolated preserves, but also in large, high-quality nature preserves. Habitat management is a factor that can contribute to declines but can also help secure and recover butterfly populations. Habitat management is also one of the factors most within the control of humans. This is good news, because it gives us an opportunity to make a significant difference in conserving butterflies. Each part below begins with a one-paragraph summary of its contents. In these sections, I provide an overview of the issues and problems, my views on how science works, what it can and can't do, how seemingly conflicting science can be reconciled, what I've learned from my field work and readings, and how I recommend moving forward based on both what has been documented and what isn't known yet. I encourage you to skip around to the parts applicable to your questions or situation. I hope this is helpful for understanding what the situation is for midwestern butterflies of open habitats and what you and I can do to help them.
Part 1: What am I writing about, and why? Posted April 2011
Part 2: This science is controversial, isn't it? Posted April 2011
Part 3: How does habitat management affect butterflies? Posted April 2011
Part 4: How do I recommend proceeding forward? Posted April 2011
Part 4: Summary Version Posted March 2012
Part 5: Frequent feedbacks Posted April 2011
Part 6: Surveying and monitoring butterflies Posted March 2012
Part 7: Plantings (habitat creation) Posted March 2012
Butterfly Sightings and Records
Wisconsin Butterflies. Report your recent butterfly sightings here and find out what butterflies are being seen in the state. Packed with useful information. Also covers dragonflies, damselfies, and tiger beetles. See also under Online Field Guide. Created by member Mike Reese: http://www.wisconsinbutterflies.org
NABA's sighting page for North America: http://sightings.naba.org/
Butterflies and Moths of North American. This web site includes species accounts, occurrence maps, checklists, and photographs of species in the U.S. and Mexico, by state and county: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org
Wisconsin Butterflies. Includes range maps, important identifying marks, photos, and more. See also under Butterfly Sightings. Created by member Mike Reese: http://www.wisconsinbutterflies.org
The Wisconsin DNR's Field Guide to rare lepidoptera: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/EndangeredResources/Animals.asp?mode=list&Grp=9
http://www.naba.org/counts.html
Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network, a citizen scientists program monitoring the health of butterfly populations in northeastern and central Illinois: http://www.bfly.org
Our inhouse binocular expert Karl Legler highly recommends Pentax Papilio's, which are reasonably priced close-focusing binoculars. Sold by Eagle Optics (online store and a showroom in Middleton). Download a handout on these great binoculars.
http://www.naba.org/binocs.html
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/gear/binoculars
Journey North: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/index.html Great information on Monarchs, including several slide shows. You can also report your Monarch sightings here.Monarch Watch, from the University of Kansas: http://www.monarchwatch.org
Butterfly watching tips from the Wisconsin DNR: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/insect/butterflywatching.htm
Beaver Creek Reserve (Fall Creek, WI), native butterflies in screened butterfly house, open seasonally: http://www.beavercreekreserve.org
Mosquito Hill Nature Center (New London, WI), native butterflies, open seasonally: http://www.mosquitohill.com
Olbrich Botanical Garden (Madison, WI) sponsors a live butterfly exhibit in the Bolz Conservatory each summer: http://www.olbrich.org/events/butterflies.cfm
Milwaukee Public Museum Peulicher Butterfly Wing, permanent exhibit of live butterflies: https://www.mpm.edu/plan-visit/exhibitions/permanent-exhibits/first-floor-exhibits/puelicher-butterfly-wing
North American Butterfly Association: http://www.naba.org
The Lepidopterists' Society. Includes full-text articles from the society's journal: http://www.lepsoc.org
Xerces Society: http://www.xerces.org