One swallow doesn’t make a summer – but a lone butterfly cannot only evoke summer, it’s a poignant sign that something somewhere in the environment is right.
That our butterflies are becoming an increasingly rare sight in urban areas largely because of developers tearing up their host plants in clearing land, say Steve Woodhall, president of the Lepidopterist Society of southern Africa, and Lindsay Gray, garden designer and writer.
South Africa has more than 660 species, but the book focuses on 95 butterflies and moths seen in gardens. A page is devoted to each, with beautiful, clear photographs and details of its distribution, habitat, habits and host plants. In many cases, two host plants are needed: as food for the caterpillar and to provide nectar for the butterfly.
Chapters are divided into sections, making the book easy to use as a guide. Early chapters describe the ideal ecosystem, southern African biomes, and the life cycles of butterflies and moths.
Woodhall’s writing is informative and reads well. He explains why some butterflies are confined to limited habitats.
Woodhall also outlines eccentric feeding habits – some butterflies don’t feed, others need mud patches as a source of minerals. He tells of the Cold War between host plants and caterpillars, in which plants become increasingly toxic to defend themselves, while the caterpillars develop greater immunity.
Caterpillars have learnt how to not attract birds.
Later chapters describe how to design and establish a garden for butterflies, create lures and mud patches, giving lists of suitable trees, plants, groundcovers, succulents, climbers, herbs and grasses.
Gray has used a Durban garden as a model, but explains how it may be adapted for other parts of the country.
Gardening for Butterflies by Steve Woodhall and Lindsay Gray is published by Random House Struik