When it comes to butterflies, a lot of people do
not know exactly what they eat. Let’s explore
some of the things that they would eat. First,
you have to realize that there are a lot of
butterfly food sources; you just have to look
for them! We promise that there are many
different butterfly food sources all over your
backyard; you just need to look for them.
For starters, the larvae (caterpillars) of
butterflies eat ONLY leaves of plants. Different
caterpillars like to eat certain kinds of
plants. The leaves allow the caterpillar to grow
and get all of the vitamins needed to transform
into a beautiful butterfly. In turn, the adult
butterflies consume all sorts of different
things including nectar, water and even liquids
from some of the fruits we consume. If you are
looking to attract butterflies to your backyard,
simply plant a few fruit-bearing trees along
with plenty of flowers and you should definitely
have yourself a back yard full of butterflies.
They especially like to drink from mushy slices
of banana, oranges and watermelon. There are
special butterfly
feeders you could buy that are
colored like a flower and come with special
sugar you mix in water to make food for them to
eat.
Now many people do not know exactly how the
butterfly food is consumed. Well, a small little
pipe, like a straw, which is coiled under its
head most of the time is what an adult butterfly
uses to suck up all of the nectar from plants.
The straw is called a ‘proboscis’. This is
the reason that all butterflies generally stick
to an all-liquid diet; it is very hard to suck
up any solids with a straw like that for your
mouth.
It is pretty obvious that if you happen to
find yourself an adult butterfly and are looking
for a butterfly
food source, you should turn toward
the liquids. Butterflies are known for their
completely liquid diets, whether they are
sampling nectar from all sorts of different
flowers, or they are using their long
‘straw’ to drink up water out of shallow
ponds, butterflies are usually always looking
for things that are liquid to eat.
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