By Kevin Pride. The larvae feed gregariously on native flowering perennials before becoming fluttering black beauties. It was just last month when zexmenia was having a moment. Now, all its cousins in the abundantly speciose Asteraceae family have joined the celebration — spawning a slew of bordered patch caterpillars!
Spotted across town gobbling up all the sunflowers, the non-venomous caterpillars typically have orange bodies and black bristles. Spreading like zombie slime mold as a group, they devour their host, but don’t consume whole leaves. Instead, they ‘skeletonize’ the leaf, making your plant look like it’s turning into gross, dusty spiderwebs.
In butterfly form, it’s pretty — mostly black with orange and white spots in a variable pattern — and unassuming, with a smallish wingspan of about an inch and a half. Momma butterflies lay hundreds of eggs on a host plant, where they hatch simultaneously (not creepy at all) and begin eating. When you mess with them, they start flicking their bodies in unison which I assume is a defensive measure.
Before you panic and start spraying pesticides or cutting everything back, take a minute to consider the purpose of your garden. Is it merely an accessory of your property? Or a plentiful paradise for pollinators?
Also, keep this in mind: These caterpillars grow up quickly and their host plants, particularly perennials, usually bounce back with no issues.
In my yard, they seem to prefer the abundant annual sunflowers and plateau goldeneye. I’ve also seen them go for smaller plants like straggler daisy and zexmenia, but after they eat most of those leaves, they move on to bigger sunflower plants, allowing the little ones to recover.
Annual sunflower is one of the few native plants that my landscape often has too much of. But every spring, I let a handful of them sprout as sacrificial buffets for the birds, bees and my bordered patch bros. Other abundant plants they consume are ones people usually don’t mind removing from their gardens, like ragweed, cockleburs and Santa Maria feverfew.
So, why not let these little guys chow down — then enjoy the flutter when they turn.
And when you get a chance stop by and visit Milberger’s Butterfly Garden.
Kevin Pride is a SAWS Conservation Field Investigator and a self-proclaimed nature boy. He has a background in restoration ecology and is zealous about native plant landscapes that use zero irrigation. Kevin spends his free time deep underground surveying caves or hiking barefoot with his daughter, Daisy, and their dog.