Finds from the Rinds

Most organisms are adapted for specific habitats, conditions, or lifestyles, helping them get the resources they need by reducing competition with other organisms that need somewhat different resources. If your area provides a diversity of habitats and resource types (ex. shelters, foods, water sources) then it is likely to support a greater diversity of organisms than a more uniform area might.

I increase the diversity of butterflies I observe in my yard by diversifying the food sources provided. Most of us picture butterflies on flowers, but many species prefer rotting fruit or sap-flows from trees, and some are even drawn to things like poop or carrion. For example:

A Red-spotted Purple.
A Question Mark.
Swallowtails.

I recycle my summer watermelon rinds by making simple butterfly feeders. You can just put out a chunk of rind or some old fruit, but if it dries out too fast, the butterflies loose interest.

You can extend the life of your rind by placing it in a dish with just a little water (I'm experimenting with adding some gravel to that to prevent small insects from drowning), which keeps it moist and fermenting.

So far, I've had 11 species of butterflies visit, and one hungry caterpillar. Check out the rind-feeding butterfly species I've documented.

My feeder has also attracted a variety of other insects, and I get quite a bit of moth activity at night. Click here for all of the interesting, rind-related visitors.

If you prefer to limit your visitors to butterflies and moths, you can cover the top of your feeder with screen, keeping the fruit about 1 cm below it. The long proboscis of a butterfly will easily slip through to reach the fruit, but insects like flies and wasps don't have long enough mouthparts to feed there.

Of course, things like raccoons, possums, and curious cats can potentially be a problem. One reason I like using watermelon rinds is because they have enough sweet flesh left to feed lots of insects, but not so much to make them particularly interesting to vertebrates. I also use heavy ceramic dishes (sold to catch drips from potted plants) so that they are hard to knock over and unlikely to break even if they do get shoved around by curious mammals.

Posted on July 16, 2022 12:07 PM by m_whitson