Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

This sounds like a very interesting project - the butterflies.

Where ever you purchase your larvae from will give you direction on what to feed them - it may even come right in your kit!

Tonya

Hi,

Should you raise painted lady butterflies om pants or culture medium? From what I can tell you can raise the caterpillars on either successfully to the adult stage. If you want adult butterflies to lay eggs, amd then raise a new generation from the eggs, you should provide plants for them to lay eggs on. Mallow, thistle , hollyhock,or dandelions are the obvious choices. You can read more about them from the Carolina Biological Supply information sheet:

http://www.registrationsite.org/butterf ... ladies.pdf

http://insects.about.com/od/butterflies ... cardui.htm

The Painted lady consumes more than 100 different plants, some include thistles, Burdock, and Groundsel. The Larval foodplants are thistles and members of the families Asteraceae and Malvaceae.

Here is a study comparing different diets on butterflies.

http://www.mdibl.org/courses/mbmss09/ab ... mberly.pdf

http://science.ousd.k12.ca.us/foss/orga ... 0Guide.pdf

Caterpillar: Caterpillars feed on the leaves of a wide variety of plants from over ten families including the sunflower family (Asteraceae), the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae), the mallow family (Malvaceae), and the pea family (Fabaceae); thistles (Cirsium spp.) seem to be preferred.
Adult: Butterflies drink flower nectar, most commonly from tall flowers in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). They may also use aphid honeydew for food.
Ecology:
Each caterpillar forms a nest of silk on the topside of host plant leaves. The number of generations of caterpillars each year varies regionally, with most areas having one to three, and with many occurring all year long in the south. Adults overwinter in a physiological state called diapause in the south and where winters are mild; pupae may overwinter, as well. Annually, butterflies migrate north in the spring, sometimes in large numbers; they do not usually exhibit a similar return trip en masse south in the fall.

Here is another interesting site:

http://www.mybutterflyguide.com/Painted_Lady.html

And here is a paper that claims butterflies raised on plants survive to adulthood in higher numbers, and lay fertile eggs, where those on a purely artificial diet do not.

http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.1653/0 ... ookieSet=1

So the bottom line answer seems to be, raising butterflies on their preferred host plants will give healthier adults that reproduce more successfully than raising them on an artificial diet.

Hope this answers the question.

Best regards,

Barrett L. Tomlinson