Any natural deterant to scare away/discourage butterflies?

mondeoman72

I have a sad situation where there is a workshop with big windows in the yard of a house. I keep finding butterflies inside it, stuck trying to get OUT of the shed. I saw the odd one and released it, but found a couple of dead ones as well. Yesterday there were three stuck inside and I managed to save two.

I have no idea how they are getting in, it's a concrete garage so is fairly robust with little/no points of entry. I am trying to save them as they are actually lovely to look at.

Any ideas?

livingdgx

Leave the window a bit open so they can fly out?

mondeoman72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118987973#Comment_118987973

Good idea but not practical. It's locked down and alarmed

IMG_20220427_161925.jpg

livingdgx

Ohh okay. Is there any kind of gaps around the windows where they might be getting in?

Butterflies look for small dark spaces to sleep during the day

Suckit

IIRC some herbs give of a wiffy odour and butterflies don't like them. Could they be coming from inside the shed? They may have been hibernating?

I think Sage is one that they don't like, and Rosemary. There are others but I can't remember what they are. I remember a lady telling us she had to mice her herb garden to encourage them after she was told they are a deterrent. It was a long time ago, I was working as a gopher during my summer holidays from school and we were working on her house. But definitely a few herbs because we had to move the lot, and there were many.

mondeoman72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118988034#Comment_118988034

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118988039#Comment_118988039

No gaps that I am aware of. As for dark places, the eaves are open - not slabbed, so lots of space overhead. Maybe connected to this. I would like to try and save them, they are nice to look at on the land around the place.

Suckit

Wow.. 🤯😁 A whole page dedicated to deterring them I never knew they were considered such a pest, makes sense i suppose if growing cabbage.

- netting

- companion planting plants near or among brassicas and which repel the butterfly. These include aromatic herbs (lemon balm, sage, oregano, borage, hyssop, dill, rosemary) and/or high blossom flowers (tall marigold, calendula)

- companion planting plants at a distance and which attract the moths. Nasturtiums are great for this.

- spraying repellant solutions on the plant. DIY solutions generally include some dishwashing liquid and optionally, one or more of: neem oil (or equivalent), garlic and cayenne. Lots of recipes are offered online.

- hand cleaning - turning each leaf by hand and removing the cabbage worms. This can be hard to do once the worms get into a developing brussels sprout or cabbage head.

New idea we learned

It turns out the butterfly is apparently territorial. So, if you provide a "look-alike" decoy among your brassicas, the real insects will stay away. There are all sorts of decoys suggested on the internet. Everything from exact replicas, to white X's with black spots on them. People also have made them out of all kinds of materials: paper, white milk jug plastic, fabric, and full 3D printed plastic. Folks also have planted the decoys on stakes or tied them to something so they flit about a bit. All variations seem to work.

It seems that the two key features needed for success are:

1. include the black marking of the female (two spots/upper wing, vs the male with only 1spot/upper wing), and

2. making the decoy slightly bigger than the real thing. The wingspan of the adult is about 1.5-2 inches, so making the decoy about 2 inches is good.

From here - https://goodseedco.net/blog/posts/cabbage-butterfly-decoy

My neighbour has big butterfly ornaments in her garden, I wonder does she know that they might be scaring them away..

FlipperThePriest

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118988061#Comment_118988061

Block up the light coming from the window... They are coming in somewhere, seeing massive amounts of light coming from the window and thinking that's where they'll escape. If it's covered, they'll hopefully find the light source (gap) that let them in.

10-10-20

Larger butterflies will "overwinter" or hibernate in wood-stacks and sheds, I have seen Red Admiral and Peacock overwintering in my shed, so perhaps they are already in the shed, rather than getting in.

mondeoman72

The more I think of it, the more I think you are correct. They do appear to be red admirals or similar, so I think I will just go up there every day and release any I find.

They must be hiding somewhere and waking up as the weather gets warmer.

Thanks