Have some space in your landscape and want to attract more lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species?
Some big trees that are starting to show off their fall colors (a little after many other trees have already dropped their leaves) are the oaks (Quercus spp.) The benefit of some oaks’ fall color aside, you are left with wildlife benefits as ginormous as the trees themselves. According to Tallamy and Shropshire, 518 species of lepidoptera caterpillars feed on oaks as their host plant. This is really big because majority of our North American birds feed insects and/or spiders to their young. It’s simple: plant native species to attract more native lepidoptera (who doesn’t want more butterflies and moths anyway?) and attract more native birds.
Images taken at Bellefontaine Cemetery
