The Gardens, Ambassadors of Biodiversity

The 5 Faunistic Observatories

The Butterflies Meadow

A flowered meadow has been installed just next to a nettle field in order to attract butterflies.

Its flowers are shaped in such a way that the butterflies may access the nectar and, to encourage their reproduction, the nettles, adapted for feeding their caterpillars have been left standing.

It has become indispensable to take measures to safeguard butterflies the species of which, even the most common ones, become so scarce that they disappear in some places. Butterflies play a very important role in the pollination of flowered plants.

The Herboretum registers the butterflies present on the domain and participates to the Garden Butterflies Observatory launched by the Association Noé Conservation, with the collaboration of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle.

Actual surveillance net for the common day butterflies species, the Garden Butterflies Observatory allows to follow the evolution of the populations and to better understand the ecologic dynamics, related to the global warming for instance.

The Observatory focuses on 28 of the most common day butterflies species. Among the most beautiful butterflies observed at the Herboretum figure the old world swallowtail, the scarce swallowtail, the silver-washed fritillary, the comma, and the peacock butterfly.