What will repel butterflies? (Not kill them!)

About 3/4 of my plant babies are now inundated with caterpillars. I've tried picking them off and placing them on other plants, but there are simply too many for me to deal with manually. They've decimated my tibouchina's, passiflora's, pineapple sage, scented geraniums, cestrum nocturnums, Mexican firebush, and too many others to list here. I won't spray with pesticide or harsh chemicals, and I'm not interested in killing them or the butterflies---I just want to keep them away and make them fly elsewhere to lay their eggs.

It was suggested that I mix up a solution of cayenne pepper and water. Will that work? Any suggestions for proportions? I've been to the Garlic Barrier website

http://www.garlicbarrier.com/

But nowhere does it state that it discourages butterflies. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? I love butterflies as much as the next girl, but I'm heartbroken over what's happening to my plants and I need a *natural* solution. Please help me.

Liila - unfortunately once caterpillars have hatched onto your plants, they pretty much have no where else to go as far as I know. Most can't "switch" to another plant. Therefore, sad as it is, if you want to save your plants, you'll probably have to kill the caterpillars. They will die a slow death by starving to death otherwise.

I don't know about repelling butterflies from laying their eggs. If they use visual clues, the pepper spray might not work. If anyone else knows, please chime in. I suppose you could use a physical barrier such as fine mesh netting at least until the plants get large enough to handle some caterpillar chomping. It will restrict some sunlight and might make your plants too wet, but I can't think of anything else non-chemical. Then again - in Florida restricting sun and keeping some moisture in may not be a bad thing.

I've heard that marigolds will repell some insects, but I'm not sure that this would work for butterflies. Sorry I haven't been much help. Maybe someone else will have some suggestions.


If it makes you feel any better, I only wish I had your problem. We had a dry spring last year that seemed to almost decimate the butterfly population. I have seen maybe 5 butterflies all year this year. Last year, I had so few fritillary caterpillars that I actually got a bunch of passion fruit (which then promptly spread themselves all over the place) rather than the years before when the caterpillars would eat all the vines and cover my yard in butterflies. This year so far I haven't yet seen any caterpillars at all in my garden - no fritillaries on the passion vine and no swallowtails on the bronze fennel or parsley. My butterfly bushes have few if any butterfly visitors - mostly only bees and wasps. I miss my babies, and I'm afraid that it may take years before I see any again. A butterfly garden without caterpillars and butterflies just isn't the same.

Well, I've pretty much decided to let it go. Whatever plants make it through will make it through. Everything else will end up in a very, very expensive heap in the plant graveyard out back. I know I'm supposed to expect them all (my plants) to bounce back, but most of them don't look like they're going to. I'm counting my blessings that they've left my Michelia and another extremely expensive and very, very rare tree alone. They're also avoiding my jasmines, vitex, datura's, and 4 o'clocks. From here on in I will concentrate on acquiring plants that aren't known butterfly hosts, but promise to make sure that they have food, too. I actually have 2 batface cuphea and buddleia plants coming in a coop---was going to give the buddleia away as gifts---but now I'm going to plant them for the butterflies and I'll be happy to let them have those if they want them.

I'm sorry for the irony of my fretting over having them everywhere, and your fretting over not seeing any this year. If I could twitch my nose and send them all to your house, I would. It's all a matter of perception, and I think, location as well. I take them for granted because they're always here in South Florida in such numbers, but I do know that I would miss them if they weren't, same as you. I wouldn't bother with netting, we all need to eat.

I've been placing them on some unknown shrubs and flowers along the perimeters of the property that all ready have caterpillars on them. I had been hoping that they'd join the party and be all right. I'd hate to think that I'm killing them.

Thanks for your response. I hope your butterflies come back!

Liila - your idea of giving them different host plants is a good one. Florida has a few butterfly guides for that state - try your local extension office, bookstore, or museum. I lived in Florida for 10 years, so I've seen the guides and they have great pictures. I think there might even be a Florida butterfly gardening book that might have helpful tips for chosing plants that they will eat (or won't eat - providing flowers instead). If you can identify the butterflies, you might be able to google them and find out what they like to eat. Maybe on the list will be something cheap that you can feed them. I know that the Fritillaries eat passion vines - they eat the wild ones here, the ones called maypops - and the black swallowtails eat bronze fennel. Both take a pretty good chomping (often all the leaves eaten) and still come back each year here. The black swallowtails will also eat parsely but seem to prefer the fennel here in Georgia.

I don't think that butterflies will actually eat the butterfly bushes. I know that here in Georgia, it is just one of the flower plants that they like to visit. Lantana is also good for that - I have 3 or 4 just for the butterflies to land on if they come back. The only other flower of mine that they chomped on with any regularity was the black eyed susan (Rudbekia). They would eat the petals and then stick some on their back as camouflage (they looked quite comical). When I get home tonight, I'll post a picture.

And thanks for your offer of butterflies - and I apologize for bumming you out. I just happened to read your post on the day when my baby butterfly bush (my two bushes had a baby) got into bloom, and it was kind of depressing to see all my three bushes standing there so tall (the parents are now over 6 feet) and in bloom and not one butterfly on them. I don't know what has happened here, because that number of 5 butterflies isn't much of an exagerration (though I counted the few cabbage butterflies as one, because they were just trying to eat my veggies) when two years ago we had so many and I'd have butterflies visiting my flowers everyday. Even my Hubby has noticed. This afternoon as we were going back to work, he said - "Your butterfly bushes are beautiful, but there's only one thing missing..." and I finished "...yeah, the butterflies."

I think that I might feel a little differently, though, if my flowers were being eaten to death, especially if I spent good money for them. In Georgia, it is fungus that usually gets them. I have only one rose (a wild one that my Hubby brought home) exactly for that reason. Roses just don't last long here without a LOT of work.

Most of my plants are the perennials that "keep on ticking". Except for the Impatiens, the annual Budelaria, and Coleus which seem to do well every year here and a new African daisy, my other annuals seem to be dropping by the wayside - including my lovely champagne bubble poppies.

Good luck and I hope at least some of your baby plants make it. For next year, netting might still be an option. You mightbe able to put netting over your prized plants and hopefully they'll lay their eggs on alternative plants. Oh and if you have pictures of your butterflies and/or caterpillars, I'd love to see some. I could butterfly watch vicariously through yours.

I once read that they'll eventually leave your plants and the plants won't die but will actually thrive. Let's hope so!!!!!!

Liila, I'm curious...have you actually seen caterpillars on each of these plants? I know you probably have on the passionvines, since the Gulf's use those, but mainly I mean on the other plants? They aren't the same cats, so I was wondering what those cats looked like. NB is right, that each butterfly has a specific plant or two that they will only use, so to have that many plants eaten at the same time would either have to be several different kinds of cats or maybe it's something else too. I have horrid grasshoppers that do more damage than cats to my things, but it's impossible to get rid of those too so I just try to run them away.

Pirl---losing its foliage stressed my Mexican firebush to the point of being nothing more than one lone stem that's dying as we speak. The whole thing just collapsed and gave up. My big tibouchina's a few holey and half eaten leaves, mostly stems. It had been blooming but not now. They're all looking pretty forlorn. I'm continuing to spray with Messenger, Spray & Grow and Superthrive. I'm hoping it helps!

koncreteblond---yes, not only the gulf fritillary caterpillars with the funky looking spiked hair, but also these plain green ones. The plain green ones are the predominant ones, *everywhere*, eating me out of house and home! I've also seen some neat striped ones, as well. I'm still trying to make the best of it.

I prefaced my comment with the words that "I read" but I've also lost parsley and dill to them - totally devoured to the bases.

The parsley and dill were devoured by Black Swallowtails. I do grow those two, and fennel, specifically for them to eat. I have no idea how the female knows how to find the plants, since they smell with their feet! Just amazing!

There were only a couple of things on your list that I recognized as a host plant for butterflies. Now moths will eat a lot more. Butterfly cats are "usually" bigger and more colorful. Those plain green ones are probably just some little moth. I guess it's butterfly prejudice, but I would be more inclined to want to get rid of the moths too. I had some tiny green cats on some bushes last year and they ate it leafless. I recently found a few leaves on my tree that were skeletonized by this same type of cat. They are so little I can barely find them, and needed to prune this branch back, so I just cut it all off and bagged it up.

I don't think there is any way to prevent them from laying eggs on the plant unless you do cover it up, which defeats your purpose of having the plant to enjoy. Personally, I would probably spray the moths and leave the butterflies.

Are we talking about the white moths that do dances in the air? What is their name? I feel terrible not knowing and referring to them as "white moths".

I wouldn't feel too bad! I'm sure there are a lot of white moths. I've never seen any doing dances tho. I think I need to see that!

I've taken a photo, regular film, of their antics to produce more moths, too! SWIFT!

Now that you mention it, we have tons of wierd, gross, and strange looking moths *everywhere* down here. Some of them are downright scary looking! Especially when they're dangling off the bottoms of your leaves just daring you to disturb them. I thought that nicotiana was repulsive to chewers, (both rustica and flowering tobacco) but those plain green cats made quite a dent in all of them, also, before I plucked them off and sent them to heaven...They're just turning up in the most unlikely of plants, IMO....At least they aren't bothering my clitoria, mandevilla or corkscrew vines.

I'm sure we have many of the darker brown moths but the white ones (I think they have a little black dot) that dance around in the air, over flower beds and grass. It's a delightful diversion when we get around to actually taking a break and sitting down!