I would rather suggest you to plant trees that give out gum !!! May be you want to check with the botanists on the list of trees. Again, I am not sure about the specificity of butterfly species with gums of certain trees!!!
All this while I have just seen butterflies regularly on trees that give out gum, not sure whether they will get attracted if you place the gum on the soil. You can certainly do this experiment and share the result with us. Dried fish and rotten fruits, those things stink badly, so you better be trying them in the wild and not at your garden or house !!! What kind of habitat do you live in? The idea is, even if you are trying out all these things in the right season, the butterflies should be there in your area to get attracted. Also, don't let the water flow drain off the things that you have placed in the garden. Flow of water will just make them assume a familiar environment where they usually puddle, so it should help. In very few species I have seen females also joining the males during puddling, I think its the exhausted or worn out females that just take water. Butterflies flying by will actually come and take a look at your garden if you have something flashy. Something like objects that are of Dark Blue, Dark Red, etc colors. So, try to place some natural objects that have these bright colors. Its like faking a flower, but anyway you have stuff for them, so it should be fine. Bottom line is, you will see lot of "I think" and "I am not sure" in my mails, so you should be going through couple of scientific articles to get clear answers. If anyone in this group is doing research on puddling, please enlighten us. Arjan sir, I whole heartedly appreciate your enthusiasm and interest in creating the garden for butterflies. Keep up the good work and all the very best. Happy Butterflying, Kishen On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 9:29 AM, Arjan Basuroy <[email protected]>wrote: > > > Thanks Kishen. > > What types of tree gum? If i purchase a pack of gum and spread it over the > soil will it do? > I know the effect of urination, so i have asked by garden staff to urinate > on that particular spot regularly. > > Now tell me if in a small area, if i put some rotten fruits in a patch, > some dried fish dipped in urine in another patch and some tree gum beside > that, with a continuous but slow flow of water will it attract all types of > butterfly? > Pls let me know asap!! > I am in the process of making my garden. > regards > Arjan > > On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 12:19 PM, Abhijna Desai < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> >> >> WOW >> >> >> On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 11:50 PM, Kishen Das >> <[email protected]>wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> Rajahs, Nawabs, Some of the Hesperiids - Animal droppings ( If the animal >>> is carnivore, its even more cool !!! So, during your nature trail, if you >>> bump onto some small mammal droppings, don't hesitate to pack it a plastic >>> sheet. You can dry it later and then place it in the field after making it >>> bit moist by adding few drops of water) >>> Droppings of Herbivores will hardly attract any butterflies !!! I have >>> only seen few reluctant Pansies on them, who were saying, " Oh man, this >>> thing sucks" !!!! >>> Ceruleans, Flats - Bird Dropping >>> Beaks - Rocks with bit of moisture on them + I believe bit of salt, not >>> sure !!!! >>> Pierids + Papilionids - Salt + Lots of your own urine ( Don't just drink >>> water and urinate, it should be after taking proper food the previous day >>> and not relieving yourself, till you actually goto the right place next day >>> and doing it on the right spot !!!! Sounds nasty, but it works for most of >>> the species ) >>> In case of swallowtails, you can also make soup of small dry dead fishes >>> and add bit of salt to it and spread it in the right spot and of course, >>> urinate on top of it. >>> Lycaenids: Do lot of exercises and sweat before you goto the field, this >>> will attract Lycaenids, which will eventually come and puddle on you :-). >>> Barons - Rotten fruits >>> Nawabs, Rajahs, Evening Browns, Bush Browns, Southern Duffer !!! - Tree >>> gums >>> >>> Some say, alcoholic beverages work better!!! I am a non-drinker, so never >>> tried it. >>> >>> Although I have written specific Group of butterflies against each >>> recipe, it should pretty much cover/attract rest of the butterflies as well, >>> except for the ones that have highly specific requirements. >>> And there are few species which I have never seen puddling. >>> >>> - Kishen >>> >>> >>> On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 8:05 AM, Yashodan Heblekar < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Thanks Colonel ! >>>> >>>> We did try with cowdung , crabs , prawns , cashew fenny , beer and >>>> fruits. We have installed such feeding trays all over the conservatory , >>>> but >>>> these get devoured by ants and birds before the butterflies can come in. >>>> Baron and Grey Count do however share their peg of the spirits , but we >>>> yearn to see a flock of assorted butterflies coming in for the party. >>>> >>>> We have a 30 metre stream which we are now revamping . We shall try the >>>> multiple substrates . Common salt didn't attract any. So didn't the river >>>> sand . Funnily while we had put some cemet out for waterproofing rain water >>>> tank we got some sunbeams mud puddling ! >>>> >>>> ------------------------------ >>>> *From:* Ashwin Baindur <[email protected]> >>>> *To:* Yashodan Heblekar <[email protected]> >>>> *Cc:* butterflyindia <[email protected]> >>>> *Sent:* Sun, March 7, 2010 3:28:12 PM >>>> *Subject:* Re: [ButterflyIndia] Designing a muddle puddle >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Hi Yashodhan, >>>> >>>> Take your time to understand the phenomenon. You may like to read this >>>> wikipedia article to begin with : >>>> >>>> http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ >>>> Mud_puddling<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_puddling> >>>> >>>> Perhaps you could provide the stream with different substrates along >>>> different streches? Say clay at one place, sand at another, if you can it >>>> would be nice to have many spots where you could experiment for different >>>> mixes. I'm sure you have thought about have dung-spots, rotting-fruit spots >>>> etc. >>>> >>>> I'm attaching some scientific papers by Beck et al, Boggs & Jackson >>>> which will begin to tickle your mind. >>>> >>>> >>>> Warm regards, >>>> >>>> *Ashwin Baindur* >>>> ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- >>>> ------ >>>> Col Ashwin Baindur >>>> OIC Corps Archive & Museum, CME, Dapodi Pune 411031 >>>> ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---- >>>> Tel : *020-27147976* (R), Mob : *09923454462* >>>> Email: *ashwin.baindur( at)gmail. com, ashwin_baindur( at)yahoo. com* >>>> *------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- >>>> --------- ------* >>>> One does not often associate James Michener with nature-writing. Yet it >>>> is difficult to find one of his epics which has not been embellished by a >>>> tale about the land, its formation, the animals, the plants and the people >>>> who live amongst them.... >>>> >>>> Read "Epic splendour- The nature writing of James Michener. " in... >>>> >>>> Blog: http://thebutterfly diaries.wordpres s.com/2010/ 02/13/epic- >>>> splendour/<http://thebutterflydiaries.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/epic-splendour/> >>>> >>>> >>>> "The Butterfly Diaries" The natural travails of an Army Officer in >>>> Hindostan! >>>> ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- >>>> --------- --------- --------- -------- >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------ >>>> *From:* Yashodan Heblekar <yashodan.heblekar@ yahoo.com> >>>> *To:* Admin <butterflyindia@ yahoogroups. com> >>>> *Sent:* Sat, 6 March, 2010 12:57:40 >>>> *Subject:* [ButterflyIndia] Designing a muddle puddle >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> We are in midst of designing a year round mud puddle for butterfly . >>>> It will be fed by our very own artificial stream - water will be allowed to >>>> slowly seep in. >>>> >>>> Wanted helpful suggestions on the design and constitution. For e.g. >>>> whether sand is better or clay or just about any soil. What salts to be >>>> added , etc >>>> >>>> Regards >>>> >>>> Yashodan >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> ABHIJNA DESAI >> >> > > > -- > Arjan Basu Roy > 6/7 Bijoygarh, Kolkata - 700 032 > West Bengal, India > > Be natures' mate! > > > -- Enjoy
