Butterfly Shelter Views

General Goods

A butterfly house is any one of several types of shelters for butterflies. There are large butterfly exhibits in botanic gardens and conservatories, butterfly houses that can be made to observe a butterfly for a few days before releasing it, and butterfly shelters that give butterflies a safe place to roost.

Butterfly shelters are an easy project to make. They are a great addition to your butterfly garden. Most kids can make them with some help and you can buy kits or ready-made houses.These houses are generally made of wood with slits in it for the butterflies to roost in. This gives them a protected place to wait out a storm, hide from predators, or rest for the night. Do not use pressure treated lumber as it has a chemical in it that is deadly to butterflies. For the same reason do not paint the inside of the house. It is fine to decorate the outside however you wish. Place your butterfly house on a three-foot pole in the midst of the flowers in your garden. It should be protected from wind. Having a food source, like a sponge soaked in uncolored hummingbird nectar, will also draw butterflies to your house. Give the butterflies a source of fresh water to take care of all their needs.

Instead, supply an area with moist sand or mud. Certain types of butterflies congregate around such mud puddles to cool off, and perhaps also to imbibe the salts and other needed minerals that have been dissolved in the water. Also furnish your butterfly garden with shelter from high winds. Trees and shrubs can provide such shelter. While you're at it, you might as well choose trees that butterfly larvae can also derive food from (see Page 2 for some options).

Any place where flowers grow can be a butterfly garden. Whether you're rethinking an existing garden, putting in a new flower bed or planting in containers for the deck of your condo, you can create a welcoming environment for nature's winged jewels. All butterflies, from the exotic morphos to the common cabbage butterflies that flit along the roadsides all summer, have four simple requirements: sun, shelter, food, and moisture.