There is a fantastic app which generates a list of native plant species associated with the highest number of butterfly and moth species and is specific to any location and most habitat types in California:
https://ctcosma.shinyapps.io/the_butterfly_net/
Once there, you simply:
- Enter a zip code or search for a local point of interest to get started (I chose Fort Ord National Monument)
- Select the relevant habitat type you’re interested in (I chose Coastal Oak Woodland)
- Select how many species you want to see displayed (I chose 10 to make it easy to see relationships).
It has really nice graphical readouts of both top nectar and host plants for the number of plant species requested, but I’m currently unable to attach them here–I’ll update if I can get it to work later.
They’re open to feedback on the interface or other issues since it’s still technically in beta. It seems to work well on mobile as well.
Any surprises on the species lists for you? I found that Achillea millefolium (Yarrow) was more important that I had assumed in many local ecosystems in my area.