Butterfly feeding preferences for landscape ornamental plants

Studies were conducted to determine butterfly feeding preferences for ornamental plants in the landscape that are commonly recommended as nectar sources for adult butterflies. Ornamental plants included in the three landscape studies were (1) Lantana camara cultivars and Lantana montevidensis 'Weeping Lavender', (2) Buddleja davidii cultivars, Buddleja lindleyana 'Miss Vicie', and Buddleja crispa, and (3) Pentas lanceolata cultivars. Plant characteristics including flower color, inflorescence morphology, plant size, and nectar were evaluated to determine if they contributed, in part, to any differences in visitation among cultivars and species.; In 2002 and 2003 landscape studies, butterfly visitation was consistently greater to Lantana camara 'New Gold' and 'Radiation' than the remaining eight Lantana cultivars included in the studies. L. camara 'Cherry' and 'Carlos' were consistently the least visited. Plant characteristics that were determined to contribute in part to the observed preferential visitation included inflorescence number, flower number per inflorescence, percentage of yellow flowers per inflorescence, and plant size. Percent light reflectance of flowers in the green, yellow, orange, and red wavelengths also contributed in part to visitation differences in 2003. In a separate study conducted in 2003, nectar characteristics of Lantana were evaluated. Differences in nectar characteristics were found among cultivars including: inflorescence nectar volumes and the ratio of sucrose to hexose. In comparisons of nectar characteristics on a single inflorescence the sucrose to hexose ratio for recently opened, inner flowers was double that of middle and outer flowers regardless of cultivar. Additionally, sucrose and total sugar concentrations were highest in recently opened flowers. While direct comparison to butterfly visitation preferences was not possible, data suggest a possible relationship between sugar composition, inflorescence nectar production, and butterfly visitation.; In landscape studies conducted in 2002 and 2003, Buddleja davidii 'White Profusion', 'Pink Delight', and 'Honeycomb' were visited by butterflies more than the remaining five Buddleja species. In general, the lowest visitation was experienced by B. crispa and B. lindleyana 'Miss Vicie'. Cultivar differences that consistently correlated with visitation preferences were inflorescence number and plant size. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...