Articles

• Raising Butterflies Indoors
• Finding Butterfly Eggs
• Life Cycle of a Butterfly
• Raise Black Swallowtail Butterflies Indoors
• Raise Monarch Butterflies Indoors
• Make a Caterpillar Home Indoors
• What Do Caterpillars Eat - Host Plants
• What Do Butterflies Eat - Nectar Plants

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What Do Butterflies Eat? Nectar Plants (generally)

Most butterflies eat (actually they "drink") from nectar plants (while the plants that caterpillars eat are called host plants). Each species of butterflies has nectar plants that they prefer but many adult butterflies will feed from a wide variety of nectar sources. Butterflies are not as specific in their food source as are their caterpillars. A few adult butterfly species even prefer rotting fruit and dung as opposed to nectar.

Monarch Feeding on Milkweed

Below you will find a list of several popular butterfly species and their preferred nectar plants but keep in mind that butterflies will eat from many different nectar sources. In fact, you may find that in one part of the country the butterflies may prefer to eat from one type of nectar plant and in another area they may prefer a different nectar plant. Butterflies nectar plant preferences can even vary from garden to garden which may be due to changes in soil types, pH, etc.

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The Family Butterfly Book by Rick Mikula is a great book to help in deciding what butterfly nectar plants do best in your area. It has a section about best butterflies, host plants and nectar plants broken down by regions of the US including Hawaii, Alaska and parts of Canada. It is well illustrated with a lot of good information about raising butterflies. I own this book plus a book that is specific to my region (Butterflies of the East Coast by Rick Cech and Guy Tudor) which is very good as well.

The Family Butterfly Book is easy to read with lots of practical advice for raising butterflies while the Butterflies of the East Coast book is a bit more scientific but is a great reference book for East Coast butterflies as well as having alot of general butterfly information.

Following is a list of some common and/or popular backyard garden butterflies and their favorite nectar plants. Let me make the statement that in my experience I have found that butterflies are not terribly specific about their nectar plants. For example, one of the main plants I have seen Black Swallowtails visit in my yard is purple Homestead Verbena which is not listed anywhere (that I have found) as a favored nectar plant of Black Swallowtails. Another example of varied behavior is that my lantana stays constantly populated with sulphurs (as well as other butterflies) even though lantana is not listed as one of their preferred nectar plants. The point is that these are only guidelines below and you will find many variations of plants and colors that the butterflies like best in your yard. Enjoy the diversity and experiment to your liking.

Several of these butterfly nectar plants (as well as the caterpillar host plants) can be found at Nature Hills Nursery which is a popular online nursery with a good reputation. They offer a free catalog so you can sign up for it then flip through the catalog at your leisure.

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Two common and popular butterflies to raise indoors are Monarch butterflies and Black Swallowtail butterflies (Anise butterflies in the West). These two butterfly species have a range throughout most of the US and into Canada and Mexico. Planting the nectar plants that these butterflies eat will get you started attracting butterflies. My top recommendations based on a combination of my experience and what I have read are Milkweed, Lantana, Pentas and Butterfly Bush. These should attract the Monarchs and the Black Swallowtails as well as many other butterflies.

If you are interested in raising caterpillars to butterflies then you will also want to plant what their caterpillars eat. By planting host plants for the caterpillars as well as nectar plants for the butterflies you will not only attract the butterflies but they will soon be laying eggs and before long you will have eggs/caterpillars to bring indoors and watch as they go through the incredible journey to become butterflies.