A concerted effort to bring butterflies back home
Earth Day shrub planting rooted in desire to save species
They have spotted wings of white, grey and shades of brown.
Their wingspan can reach up to an inch and a half.
They live in southern Ontario and their numbers are declining.
The Mottled Duskywing butterfly was the focus of Earth Day celebrations Tuesday at the Bruce Trail Conservancy’s McNally property in Waterdown.
Horizon Utilities has partnered with the conservancy for five years and this year they geared their Earth Day efforts toward planting 200 native plants — 50 of them New Jersey Tea shrubs, the butterfly’s host plant — to attract more of the delicate insects to the area.
“It’s really nice to come back to the site and see the plants making a difference,” said Horizon internal communications manager Sheri Ojero. “We are hoping the butterfly comes back.”
Ojero said their volunteers have worked on previous projects on the 11-hectare property, such as putting up educational signage about plants growing on the trail and the species of animals living there. A mixed team of 20 Horizon and conservancy employees spent part of Tuesday installing the plants and removing invasive plants. The process took a little less than an hour.
“We want to increase the biodiversity of the land,” land stewardship co-ordinator Adam Brylowski said, explaining that the McNally property is the best habitat for the declining species because of its open fields.
Brylowski said the butterfly has become rare in southern Ontario. They left the area because of invasive plant species taking over the land.
Some of the shrubs were planted through the partnership last year, but it was too late in the season and they weren’t able to flower.
The New Jersey Tea is a prairie shrub that after two years has to be burned down. This is done to stimulate new growth, making the plant healthier.