Butterfly Walks
The Garden conducts free monthly butterfly walks from April through October. The walks are held in the middle of the month, alternating monthly between Saturday and Sunday, typically 1 – 2 pm and 2:15 – 3:15 pm. Walks are limited to 10 people each, and require you to sign up in advance. The Garden home page will have a notice when sign-ups open each month.
East Bay Regional Park District Butterfly Brochures
Gardening for Butterflies
- EBRPD Butterfly Gardening Brochure
- Native Plants that Attract Butterflies – A detailed list of California native plants that attract butterflies. It was compiled by the late Es Anderson, a dedicated Botanic Garden volunteer who managed the annual plant sale for many years. The list was further divided into those plants that attract nectar-feeding adult butterflies and those that provide food for butterfly larvae by Judy Lundy, a lepidopterist and naturalist devoted to sharing her love of nature with school children. Entries were expanded and updated by Art Shapiro, professor of Evolution and Ecology at the University of California, Davis. Butterflies on the Garden’s checklist appear in bold.
Botanic Garden Butterfly Checklist
Compiling a complete checklist of butterflies seen in the Botanic Garden will always be an ongoing process. The current list of 40 butterfly species (and a moth) is based on sightings reported on iNaturalist, and supplemented by personal observations. 40 species is already a very respectable number for a small location like the Garden. Three species were added in June 2024, and one in July. There should be a few more additions in the next few months.
Of the Garden’s 40 species, only 1 is non-native. Cabbage White is believed to have originated in the eastern Mediterranean region; it is believed to have originated in the eastern Mediterranean region, and arrived in the U.S. in the 1860s. It was first reported in North America in 1860 (in Quebec, Canada). There is only one other local butterfly I know of that is not native to California: Gulf Fritillary was introduced into southern California in the 19th century, from Florida and Texas, where it is common. It seems to have become established in the Bay Area only in the 1950s.
To help identify butterflies you may have seen in the Garden, the Butterfly ID page shows all 40 species at a glance.
Clicking a link in the following table will take you to a page with a short description of that butterfly and photographs. Unless otherwise mentioned, all photographs are by Sarab Seth. For photographs marked with an asterisk (*), there is additional text that you can display by hovering over the thumbnail.
During the butterfly season — roughly April through October — we will try to maintain an updated list of butterflies seen in the Garden during the last 15 days.
For any comments on these butterfly pages (or corrections, suggestions, questions), please email sarabseth@yahoo.com.
The sightings table will be updated again next spring.
