Butterflies Are Back

Friends of Molokai Library News Release

If you checked the Butterfly Garden at the Library this summer, you may have noticed that there weren’t any Monarchs flying around.  It turns out that there is a Monarch “season” in Hawaii… who knew?

According to the Butterfly Society of Hawaii, the season is approximately October to May.  But we are seeing caterpillars on the crown flower, and Monarchs and Lesser Grass Blues feeding on the milkweed, rattlepod, balloon plant and sun drop plants.

In our home garden, we also have the Gulf Fritillary, Citrus Swallowtail, Large Orange Sulphur and Cabbage butterflies back.  The Fritillary is about the same color at the Monarch, but the flight pattern is much different.  The Monarch will glide quite a distance before flapping its wings, but the Fritillary “flutters” all the time; it is also a little smaller than the Monarch.

We have a sign at the Garden with information that changes regularly, so stop by and take a look!