By Amber Prinkey
Two special days are coming up – March 12 is National Plant a Flower Day and March 14 is National Learn About Butterflies Day. Since butterflies depend on flowers, why not consider celebrating these two days by planting something our native flutterers will like? Head to your local nursery and pick up a native plant that is a host plant for your favorite butterfly and some native nectar plants as well. The Florida Native Plant Society has a list here: https://www.fnps.org/plants/butterflies. Of course you can always visit our nature center where you could see a wide variety of butterflies, bees, and birds visiting our many different plants. Don’t forget to download the Seek app before you come so you can identify the plants and butterflies that you see!
Some interesting butterfly facts:
• Butterflies are cold-blooded
• They have an exoskeleton
• They taste with their feet!
• Their proboscis (the tube they use for feeding) curls up like a garden hose when not in use
• Most butterflies don’t live very long – about a month
• Skippers can fly the fastest – 37 mph! Most butterflies fly about 5-12 mph.
A long-tailed skipper rests in our front wetland