Ok folks, I need to rant just a little. I used to belong to that DG site - in fact, my subscription expires tomorrow and I will not be renewing it. I like it over here at ATP too much! But I got a message through DG today so I checked it out. A lady in Sacramento, California saw my pictures of Zebra Swallowtails (my favorite butterfly) and informed me she had several pawpaw trees and wanted to know what she could do to attract the butterfly. Now, at this point I started scratching my head and I checked Google to make sure I was right. The Zebra ST is an East Coast butterfly - it only gets as far west as Texas. So I had to tell this lady she had zero chance of seeing this butterfly, ever. And I couldn't help but think, did she not buy a book or check a website first? There are so many books about butterflies that are specific to certain regions. I mean, I managed to buy a book just on West Virginia butterflies and it's not exactly the most popular state in the Union, you know? It's a great book, by the way. I would think the first thing you would do when building a butterfly garden would be to find out what butterflies live in your area! And those things called the Rocky Mountains serve as a major divider for all types of flora and fauna!
Then, I got really worried because she asked if she should order some caterpillars and what would be the best time to do that. And the answer is NEVER! I really believe the only people ordering from butterfly farms should be educational institutions like MOSI where I volunteer (or other botanical gardens, conservatories, etc.) I know people order Painted Ladies and Monarchs and that's sort of okay because they are found globally but there have been researchers who worry about introducing butterflies into local populations. You would hate to introduce disease, or weaker genetics into a local population. Populations can vary quite a bit, like how I was saying caterpillars prefer different host plants in different parts of their range. Tiger STs eat Sweetbay Magnolia in my yard, but eat the Tulip Poplars that grow on the side of the hill across the road from Grandma in West Virginia. Who knows what would happen if I transported some across state lines? That's why we have laws against that and check stations when you cross into the state. Even my dad who woodturns has to be careful about transporting wood across state lines. And of course, I told her that most butterfly farms probably wouldn't even ship a butterfly out of its native range (although some unethical ones might). Personally, I also don't like treating living creatures like commodities, but that's just the way I feel about it. I understand other people don't have the same feelings I do and that's okay.
Thanks for letting me vent, everyone. I spend every Sunday educating people and hopefully I'm educating you guys, too. I know we all started out new to this but sometimes I get a question that just throws me for a loop and this was one of those. And if someone asks you a similar question, hopefully this will help you to respond.
