Urban Butterfly Initiative

Urban Butterfly Initiative Nonprofit org that helps improve biodiversity, enhance lives, and promote science in urban areas

Donations Needed! 100% of all donations go to furthering the mission of our organization: beautifying urban areas and increasing environmental awareness by creating butterfly habitats and working to educate community members about nature and science. To donate via PayPal, Credit Card, Venmo, or Check, please go to: https://www.urbanbutterflies.org/donate

Arcola City Hall now has an amazing new butterfly landscape! 🦋 Over a dozen species of native plants will now provide im...
06/17/2026

Arcola City Hall now has an amazing new butterfly landscape! 🦋

Over a dozen species of native plants will now provide important resources for butterfly caterpillars and adults while being beautiful and easier to manage for people.

We hope that seeing these beautiful plants at the city building will inspire others in the community to plant similar plants in their home landscapes.

Huge thanks to all those with the City of Arcola who did a great job preparing the site and helped make this project possible, and to the volunteers who came to help plant! It will take a year or so for these plants to become established, but some of them may even bloom later this summer. 🌸

Pics: before, during, and after photos!

City of Arcola

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06/07/2026

A gorgeous viceroy at the Reasor Nature Exploration Park UBI butterfly hotspot in Charleston recently.

🦋 Adult viceroys mimic the monarchs and can be told apart most easily by the dark vein arching through the middle of the hindwing. Studies have shown that both viceroys and monarchs are toxic, making their mimicry Mullerian mimicry. The adults get energy and/or nutrients from a variety of flowers, rotten fruit, tree sap, and animal p**p. This individual seems to be getting something from the grass flowers or from something living on the grass flowers. (Grass flowers don’t produce nectar)

🐛Their caterpillars mimic bird droppings and feed on willow and poplar.

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Congratulations to Arcola Public Library for becoming our most recent public library site! 🦋The library and scout cabi...
06/03/2026

Congratulations to Arcola Public Library for becoming our most recent public library site! 🦋

The library and scout cabin landscape now has 17 species of native plants to provide resources for butterflies and beauty for humans!

Big thanks to Laura Robey and everyone at the library for making this project a reality and to all the volunteers for helping out!

Pics: before, during, and after photos 🌼

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Fox Ridge-Cabin Pond butterfly hotspot looking great right now! Butterfly w**d, foxglove beardtongue, and Ohio spiderwor...
05/30/2026

Fox Ridge-Cabin Pond butterfly hotspot looking great right now! Butterfly w**d, foxglove beardtongue, and Ohio spiderwort are all putting on a show.

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Fox Ridge Foundation

05/30/2026

🌸🦋🌸 Great job, Duane! Butterfly hotspot and Butterfly Blitz mention starting at 0:53 - Thanks for the shout out!

Fox Ridge Foundation
EIU Biological Sciences

05/27/2026

A beautiful red-spotted purple puddling on the Eastern Illinois University campus, at the Secret Garden UBI butterfly hotspot near the Life Science Building.

🦋 Adult red-spotted purples mimic the toxic pipevine swallowtail and get nectar and/or nutrients from a variety of flowers, rotten fruit, tree sap, and animal p**p.

🐛Their caterpillars mimic bird droppings and feed on a variety of trees and shrubs, including willow and wild cherry.

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An amazing new butterfly habitat now exists on the north side of the Charleston Carnegie Public Library! Approximately ...
05/24/2026

An amazing new butterfly habitat now exists on the north side of the Charleston Carnegie Public Library!

Approximately 2500 plants of 25 different native species were installed and are now in the process of getting their roots down so they can provide food and shelter for butterflies all year long (an impressive 50 different butterfly species have been seen at the Charleston library!). Plants are planted as small plugs, which is both cheaper and increases their likelihood of success. Some of these plants will bloom later this year, but it will take a couple of years for most of them to become fully established.

HUGE thanks to the library for supporting this important project and to NAC Industries for doing a fantastic job on the site prep and plant installation!

The Charleston Public Library was our first public library site and we’re so fortunate that it continues to grow and inspire!

Pics: before, during, and after photos!

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BIKE & HIKE Charleston! It’s been one year since we planted this inaugural site with native plants and it’s looking gr...
05/09/2026

BIKE & HIKE Charleston! It’s been one year since we planted this inaugural site with native plants and it’s looking great!

Pictured: Bradbury’s monarda and pale beardtongue. These blooms are happening at the same as golden alexander and wild geranium, and they followed Virginia bluebell and Jacob’s ladder. When they’re done, other native species will bloom in succession, filling the season with pretty flowers - and therefore resources for butterflies and other pollinators - from spring thru fall!

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Expanding the Crestline Veterinary Clinic ‘s butterfly habitat with 550 additional native plants and native grass seed...
05/05/2026

Expanding the Crestline Veterinary Clinic ‘s butterfly habitat with 550 additional native plants and native grass seed! Pale purple coneflower, northern and button blazing star, aromatic and smooth blue aster, heartleaf golden alexander, hairy beardtongue, butterfly w**d, prairie dropseed, and little bluestem will now help make their hillside habitat a boon to butterflies all season! (And provide pretty flowers to look at for the passersby along hwy 16)

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Congratulations to Lora and Tim & Micro Market-New Leaf Microgreens (1505 18th St., Charleston) for becoming our newest ...
05/02/2026

Congratulations to Lora and Tim & Micro Market-New Leaf Microgreens (1505 18th St., Charleston) for becoming our newest member! The small space around their signage now has 11 species of native plants that will be beautiful, require minimal maintenance, provide valuable resources for butterflies, and come back year after year!

What a great match - The Micro Market provides tasty food for our people community and the native flowers provide tasty food for our butterfly community.

Stop by to check it out!

Pics: Before/During/After photos with captions

And as an aside, landscape fabric and river rock is a horrible choice for landscaping - awful stuff to maintain and a pain to get rid of!

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Charleston, IL

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