Native Butterflies and Native Plants

At this regular monthly chapter meeting, David Nunnallee will explore with high quality photographs the intimate relationships between Washington’s native butterflies and our native plants. All of our 150+ butterfly species are dependent on plants, both for nectar to nourish the adults and for host plants to feed their caterpillar offspring. We will discover which plants are used by each of the thirteen major groups of butterflies found in Washington. But some plant groups are far more important to butterflies than others; we will explore these as well as some of the individual “super plants” which host multiple butterfly species.

A retired engineer, David has long had an intense interest in natural history including butterflies, birds, native plants, dragonflies and fossils. He has actively studied butterflies in the Pacific Northwest for two decades, and has been rearing and photographing butterfly larvae for 15 years. He frequently leads butterfly field trips within Washington State, and is a co-founder of the Washington Butterfly Association. An accomplished photographer, he has more than a thousand published butterfly photographs in books, field guides, web sites, newsletters and permanent public displays. He often speaks to natural history audiences and has given keynote presentations at several conferences. He is co-author with David James of "Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies," published Nov., 2011, by Oregon State University Press.