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ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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Posted by christie_sw_mo Z6 (My Page) on Sat, Jul 4, 09 at 22:55
| Has anyone ever tried ginger canadense as a host plant for pipevine swallowtails? I came across a website that said it's an alternate host. Would they eat it if they're hungry? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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It's interesting what you learn on this site.
Here's a source for Christie's information. http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/asarum_canadense.shtml I just ordered some seed and a plant from PrairieMoon.com
I'm always battling with my pipevine since it's so invasive in my garden. According to the Mo. Botanical Garden, the scientific name is Asarum canadense. |
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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Yup, I found out from KC that it is a host plant for PVS. I checked it on HOSTS and sure enough. Plus it is in the Aristolochia family. Then, while doing BF surveys at the Arboretum, we noted that we always see male PVS patroling in our wildflower area where beaucoup wild ginger grows. Not only that, we checked and the ginger was blooming. Guess what the bloom looks like? A little pipevine flower! Ain't nature neat! Now, I know what I will be planting to replace all that dang blasted garlic mustard in the woods.
-Elisabeth |
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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| Years ago I saw ginger listed as a host plant for the pipe vine swallowtail in the Peterson's Guide to Western Butterflies or some name like that. So I tried some that I ordered at one of the larger nurseries nearby but the cats wouldn't touch it. I still have it growing near the pipe vines out back but I have never seen any cats on it. I am not sure which one I have but I think it is caudatum. But let me know if you have success with the canadenses. Murray |
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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HOSTS lists A. canadenses as observed host.
-Elisabeth |
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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| Elisabeth: from observation around here, wild ginger doesn't naturally out-compete the garlic mustard. :( What I've had to do is manually remove the garlic mustard over several years and then plant Snakeroot to replace it -- and we're still working on getting that established. Garlic mustard is just nasty stuff. Jeff |
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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Jeff;
Nothing out-competes garlic mustard :(! It is allopathic. Here in SW Ohio it has made a nice, not monoculture, but bi-culture with Amur Honeysuckle. So, I will have to rip is all out and be vigilant in the future. By the way, some folks in my Master Gardener class made garlic mustard pesto. It was an eat the weed project and it was yummy!
-Elisabeth |
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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| Can't say that I've ever seen the PVS go for the wild ginger, they always seem to go for the Virginia snakeroot instead. I've got both plants growing side by side. When the cats are hungry (and they always are), the wild ginger goes unscathed. My opinion is that the wild ginger as a host plant for the PVS is a myth. Somebody please prove me wrong! Rod A. |
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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| I tried using wild ginger for PVS cats once,but they refused to eat it.So yes,maybe it is a myth. Also,my very ancient Golden Butterfly guide lists knotweed (Polygonum?) as a host plant for PVS,but that seems even more unlikely than A. canadenses. |
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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| For those interested, here are two articles on Garlic Mustard's allelopathic properties: http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/reprint/91/2/285
http://www.springerlink.com/content/g3854777q0611681/ Makes me even more determined to get the stuff out from under my trees. Jeff |
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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| I planted canadense this year based on sources saying it is a host plant so I hope to prove it is. PVS is native to my area and pipevine is not so the PVS is eating something else here. Host plants are a tricky subject. What works in one area of the country may not work in another. Could be due to regional differences in the caterpillar or the plant or both or something else. I've been working on testing whether a couple polyphemus host plants really are host plants. Quince is one of them. First instar poly cats eat it like candy. Then something binds them up and most die with frass hanging out their rear. The rare cat makes it to second instar. Over 300 cats later, I finally have a fifth instar cat. If it makes it to adulthood, I'll breed it and see how its offspring do on quince. BTW, if anyone is successfully raising polys on quince, I'd love to hear about it. KC |
RE: ginger for pipevine swallowtails?
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Hi KC;
Does Aristolochia serpentaria grow in your area? Or have I asked you this already. I just spent two heavenly days with Jaret Daniels and his lovely wife Stephanie (who is the head of BFCI). He insists that A. serpentaria is the host in our area. Beth (who you met at the house) says she is going to help me look for it. We will solve this mystery yet.
-Elisabeth |
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