Butterfly Resources
Nurseries, exhibits, suppliers, and more.
Nurseries Selling Butterfly Plants
At the Mountain Mermaid, we have been focusing on native plants for our butterfly garden. While most local nurseries now carry native plants, one must be extremely careful when purchasing plants from these nurseries because they often use pesticides and herbicides that may harm your caterpillars and butterflies. Even if they say they don't use chemicals, the growers where they got their plants probably did. The stench of these chemicals is overwhelming in many growers and nurseries we visit. The list below are sources we trust and use. Theodore Payne is a wonderful organization with a nursery, book store, classes, native wildflower seed bank, and the best annual native garden tour in town. Even at the nurseries listed below, I would ask if they use any chemicals at all, just to be sure.
The first three specialize in California natives.
Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants
10459 Tuxford Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352
818-768-1802
8225 Waters Road, Moorpark, CA 93021
805-523-8604
805-438-5992
Locations in Escondido and Santa Margarita
Their extraordinary website is my favorite for information
on native plants and butterflies.
It is done by the owner and is encyclopedic, entertaining,
and has a zillion photographs.
125 South San Marcos Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93111
(805) 683-1561
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Butterfly Websites
Also see this link :laspilitas.com/butterfl.htm
Two of my favorite web pages on native plants and butterflies, listing about 250 butterfly plants and 50 butterflies with great pictures. And the plants are available at Las Pilates Nursery if you want them. They also will ship plants.
Butterflies and Moths of North America
Offers cutting-edge manuals,CDs, and workshops on butterfly breeding, and oversees the World Wide Butterfly Breeding Forum.
Cool site for help in planning your butterfly attractant garden.
The Butterfly and Moth Learning Center
A commercial page but has some great links to resources.
Butterflies and their Larval Food Plants
Butterfly & Entomology Societies & Associations
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Butterfly Organizations
A cooperative network of students, teachers, volunteers and researchers dedicated to the study of the Monarch butterfly.
Xerses Society for Invertebrate Conservation
NABA -- North American Butterfly Association
The closest chapter to Los Angeles is in Orange County.
California Chaparral Institute
BFCI -- Butterfly Conservation Initiative
Dedicated to the conservation of threatened, endangered, and vulnerable North American butterflies and the habitats that sustain them, with a focus on recovery, research, and education.
Sonoran Anthropod Studies Institute
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Butterfly “Experiences”
Such as Butterfly Houses and Exhibits, and Butterfly Gardens
There are now around 300 butterfly “experiences” worldwide where guests can observe and mingle with butterflies. For an extensive listing, click here.
Butterfly Pavilion at the LA County Natural History Museum
April 10 through September 5, 2011
Butterflies Alive!, Natural History Museum, Santa Barbara
Hallberg Butterfly Gardens, Sabastobol, CA
Perhaps the oldest butterfly garden in the United states. Louise Hallberg was born on the site in 1917 and still lives there.
San Diego Zoo Butterfly Jungle
California academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Fransisco
“The rainforest is contained within a spectacular 90-foot diameter glass dome...where dripping water sets the beat for a symphony of croaking frogs and chirping birds. Peer into one of Borneo’s bat caves, meet chameleons from Madagascar, and climb into the tree-tops of Costa Rica to find free-flying birds and butterflies. Finally, descend in a glass elevator into the Amazonian flooded forest, where an acrylic tunnel allows you to walk beneath the catfish and arapaima that swim overhead. With 1,600 live animals - including 250 free-flying birds and butterflies, 100 exotic reptiles and amphibians, and a cave full of bats. There's also 100,000 gallon "Flooded Forest" tank, where hundreds of tropical freshwater fish cruise overhead.”
Annual Bug Fair at the LA County Museum of Natural History
Mid May Saturday and Sunday.
An extravaganza of butterfly dealers, exhibits, even a bug dining show.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading:
Chasing Monarchs, by By Robert Michael Pyle
Mariposa Road, by Robert Michael Pyle
The Dangerous World of Butterflies,
by Peter Laufer
Winged Obsession, The Pursuit of the
World's Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler,
by Jessica Speart
Gardening with a Wild Heart
Restoring California's Native Landscapes at Home
by Judith Larner Lowry
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DVD:
Journeys and Transformations The Monarch Butterfly Story
This 28-minute DVD created by Monarch Teacher Network tells the story of the monarch butterfly: its life cycle and migration, its connection to people, cultures and critical environmental issues. DVD’s are available at $5 per DVD plus $4 shipping/handling.
To purchase, send check or money order (payable to Monarch Teacher Network), including shipping costs, with your request of each to: Monarch Teacher Network – EIRC, South Jersey Technology Park, 107 Gilbreth Parkway Suite 200, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062-4446, attn: Brian H.
Include your mailing address and phone number or email in case we need to contact you. For more information, contact Brian Hayes 856.582.7000 x110 or bhayes@eirc.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Butterfly Supplies: