Butterflies share an intimate relationship with plants, and Singapore – the Garden City – is home to 295 species of butterflies. As we journey toward becoming a City in a Garden, the close relationship between our city and its green spaces provides great opportunities for us to cultivate butterfly habitats, especially within our living environments.

It can be very simple to attract butterflies to your gardens and parks, as they depend on plants for food. The adult butterflies feed on nectar from the flowers of nectar plants, while caterpillars feed on host plants in order to grow and eventually become butterflies. Plants also provide butterflies with shelter, protecting them from the rain and hiding them from predators.

A Bountiful Buffet For Butterflies

Save the Common Birdwing! One of the largest butterflies in Singapore, the Common Birdwing (Troides helena cerberus) has a beautiful, contrasting black and yellow colour scheme. This species could be vulnerable to extinction in Singapore if its host plant, the Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia acuminata), can't be found in our green areas. To help conserve this species, NParks, Oh Farms and ButterflyCircle have started an initiative to grow the host plant in schools. To date, 94 schools are taking part by growing the Dutchman's Pipe in their premises. If your school wants to get involved in saving the Common Birdwing, contact Syaiful at syaiful_hakim_muslim@nparks.gov.sg for more information.

Some nectar plants are more effective than others in attracting butterflies. For example, many species of butterflies are attracted to the common Lantana plant (Lantana camara) found around our parks and gardens. This plant is easy to grow and free-flowering. The Common Snakeweed (Stachytarpheta indica) is another effective nectar plant that is easy to maintain, though it can appear untidy if left unpruned.

Other effective nectaring plants include Jatrophas (Jatropha integerrima), Beggar's Ticks (Bidens pilosa) and even weeds such as Coat Buttons (Tridax procumbens) or the Common Asystasia (Asystasia gangetica ssp. micrantha).

Many weeds found in our parks and gardens are host plants for butterflies. These plants include the Common Asystasia and the Fringed Spiderflower (Cleome rutidosperma). Although we may dislike these weeds’ presence, the hungry caterpillars love them as food sources!

Be A Butterfly-Friendly Gardener

Encouraging butterflies to visit a garden goes beyond attracting them with the right plants. The creation and maintenance of butterfly gardens trains gardeners to be more environmentally responsible in their garden maintenance, which benefits biodiversity as a whole.

For instance, some plants that we use as food, such as our Citrus plants (Citrus spp.) and Curry Leaf Tree (Murraya koenigii), are also host plants to the Lime butterfly and Common Mormon respectively. However, these butterflies are not so abundant nowadays – because many people simply do not tolerate the presence of caterpillars on their plants! If we want to enjoy the butterflies, we first have to tolerate the plant damage caused by caterpillars.

Your pest control methods may also need to be reviewed. Uncontrolled spraying of insecticides often hits non-target insects such as butterflies, so consider doing spot spraying at problem plants when insecticide is required, instead of an area spray. If you check your plants regularly, you can take action against pests before they can establish themselves, reducing the need for insecticides. Such responsible chemical use benefits all kinds of insects, and not only butterflies.

With a little effort, you can turn your garden into a biodiversity-rich haven for beautiful butterflies. One day, when every home gardener shares this knowledge and passion for butterflies, Singapore may truly become a City in a Butterfly Garden.

To learn more about butterflies, visit HortPark’s Butterfly Garden, which is open to members of the public for free every last Saturday of each month, from 9 - 11 am.
You can also visit www.butterflycircle.com for more information, and to take part in more discussions on butterflies.
For a comprehensive guide to Singapore’s butterflies, check out the book “A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore” by Khew Sin Khoon.
Take part in our contest to win a copy of this book!

By Syaiful Hakim Muslim & Anthony Wong

 
The Butterfly Garden at HortPark includes an enclosure where visitors can view the butterflies in various stages of their life cycle.

 
A Blue Pansy butterfly

 
A Tailed Jay feeding on a Jatropha flower

 
A Lesser Grass Blue feeding on a Coat Buttons flower

A Great Mormon butterfly

 
Puddling Lemon Emigrant butterflies