Butterfly Habitat > Urban-Suburban

Because most of the native vegetation has been eliminated from urban/suburban areas, most butterflies do not fly there unless they are adjacent to natural habitat such as rivers, wet meadows, forested areas, agricultural areas, or even disturbed areas. However, caterpillars of some butterfly species feed on weeds located in disturbed areas or trees and shrubs located in urban or suburban areas. These butterflies can include the western tiger swallowtail (willows or sycamore trees), two-tailed swallowtail (ash trees) giant swallowtail (citrus trees), anise swallowtail (fennel), cabbage white (mustards), checkered white (mustards), yellow sulphur (alfalfa or clover), painted lady (thistles), west coast lady (mallows), gulf fritillary (passion vine), fiery skipper (bermuda grass), field skipper (bermuda grass), sandhill skipper (lawn grass) checkered skipper (mallows), and others, depending upon your area.