Butterfly Box Placement and Care

Location

• Mount your butterfly box on a pole or fasten it to a tree or fence so that it sits about 4 feet off the ground. Place the box near plants that provide nectar and leafy vegetation that caterpillars feed on. Butterflies also like to have a source of water nearby. They often gather around a water source where they sip water that provides the salts and minerals that supplement their diet. This behavior is called puddling.

Maintenance

• Hibernation boxes require little maintenance. Keep them free of hornet, wasp, spider and rodent nests. When cleaning up around the box, avoid using insecticides that may harm the butterflies. If you have provided puddles around your box, refill them frequently. Place a few vertical slabs of bark or twigs in the box for roosting.

Types of Butterflies

• Depending upon the species, butterflies may overwinter as eggs, caterpillars or adults. Only species that overwinter as adults will hibernate in a butterfly box. Milbert's tortoiseshells like to hibernate in large groups, which makes them excellent candidates for a butterfly box. Other species that may hibernate in a butterfly box include mourning cloaks, angelwings, commas, American snouts and question marks. Any species may use a butterfly box as a temporary roosting place.

Disadvantages

• If you are lucky, you may see a butterfly inhabit your box but success with butterfly boxes is rare. Butterflies prefer to hibernate in traditional locations such as brush piles and under tree bark. They like to find shade and shelter for roosting under the leaves of their preferred plants. Butterfly boxes are more likely to attract wasps, hornets and the occasional small rodent than a butterfly.