08-20-2023 Harford Magazine - Flipbook - Page 34
A black swallowtail caterpillar makes its way along a parsley
plant at the Ladew Topiary Gardens Butterfly House.
BY MARY CAROLE MCCAULEY
PHOTOS BY LLOYD FOX Harford Magazine
ight about now, the super generation of
monarch butterflies that hatched earlier
this summer at Ladew Topiary Gardens is
embarking on a gluttonous nectar binge that
would put to shame the notorious banquets of ancient
Rome.
Sex? Fuggedaboutit. Ditto for laying the eggs that will
hatch into the next generation. Who has the time?
No, right now, the super generation monarchs
fluttering around the plants in Ladew’s Butterfly House
have one thing on their minds and one thing only —
feeding their faces. They’re bulking up in preparation
for the annual 3,000-mile trek that will take them from
southern Harford County to the oyamel fir tree forests
west of Mexico City.
Of course, “bulking up” is a relative term. Even at
their most beefy, these critters won’t weigh much more
than a paper clip, or roughly one-sixth the weight of a
ruby-throated hummingbird, the other winged species
famous for migrating to Mexico.
“I like to think of butterflies as the gateway bug,” said
Sara Borowy, coordinator of Ladew’s Butterfly House,
which opened in 2014.
“Everyone loves how beautiful they are when they’re
flying around. But that’s just a portion of their lives. Once
people begin to understand that, maybe they won’t get
R
34
| Fall 2023 | harfordmagazine.com
quite so upset when caterpillars chew up their gardens.
Maybe people will start to get curious about other
insects, like beetles.”
On Sept. 9, Ladew will hold a special family program
on butterfly migration that will explore these creatures’
fascinating lives in fuller detail. Visitors can observe
entomologists capture butterflies with nets and tag the
insects with tiny stickers, which helps scientists track
their movements. They will learn about which lateblooming plants will help feed the super generation
monarchs on their two-month trek to Latin America.
And, they’ll get to wave farewell as the Ladew staff
releases the butterflies from the mesh confines of the
Butterfly House, and they begin their long journey south.
