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The Scarboro Garden Scene
Of cabbages - and … Butterflies
What beauties butterflies are - but how destructive some of them, or
rather, their larvae, can be to some veggies. Several plant groups,
including the carrot family and herbs, are well pollinated by
butterflies, but this year we seem to have had a huge increase in
cabbage white butterflies. The type of butterfly loves the cabbage
(“brassica”) family of plants that also includes the commercially
important canola crop: in my garden, a shoot off some ornamental
kale was devoured by some larva – and I suspect it was from the
cabbage white butterfly. Originally an old world native, it was
brought into Quebec around 1860 and is now common in North America.
Many people are familiar with the migration distances and routes of
the Monarch butterfly; we often do not see them here in Alberta: one
of their favourite places to leave their eggs is on some type of
milkweed plant. They are primarily a southern Alberta visitor here:
according to John Acorn (Butterflies of Alberta) the eggs they lay
here mature overwinter to fly some 3800 km south to west of Mexico
City. One fascinating aspect of the visually attractive larvae is
the ability to absorb some toxic chemicals from the milkweed which
is retained in the adult butterflies and acts as a defense mechanism
against predators. – it can cause cardiac arrest in mammals if taken
in sufficient quantities: milkweed has some interesting potential as
an insulator, oil-spill absorbent, and sound insulator. We regard
Monarchs as beautiful, but I find so many others are equally
attractive to look at: Monarchs’ orange colour is similar to that of
fritillaries but the decoration allows for easy differentiation.
I love to see various species of blue butterflies (difficult to
photograph) on trails outside of town, but it’s also amazing to see
what can attract some butterflies - in this case an Angelwing (see
the accompanying photograph - including the ability to find and
enjoy salty sweat from a human wrist … difficult to photograph the
white comma on the underside while remaining still!
Glynn Wright for the October issue
340 words September 14, 2021