Besides their beauty as they flit from flower to flower, butterflies are among the pollinators needed by more than 80 percent of the world's food-producing flowering plants. Some adult butterflies, such as Florida's state butterfly, the Zebra Longwing, eat pollen as well as nectar, making them extremely effective pollinators. The right mix of caterpillar and adult food sources attracts the widest variety of butterflies.
Non-Nectar Food Sources
A few butterfly species -- Swallowtails, Sulpurs and Satyrs -- also eat carrion, mud, manure and ash. At least one butterfly species, the harvester, eats aphids. Leaving meat scraps will attract unwanted predators and pest animals, but a boggy spot filled with small gravel and sand near your butterfly garden is sure to attract a few welcome visitors.
Nectar Sources
Most adult butterflies live on flower nectar. Plant flowers, fruits and vegetables that are native to your area to increase the number of native butterfly species visiting your garden. Consult a field guide for your region, or seek advice from a cooperative extension service or university agricultural department for lists of the plants that attract butterfly species in your area.
Among the plants that attract a variety of butterflies are asters, rudbeckia, daylilies, hibiscus and marigold. Bee balm and wild bergamot attract Painted Ladies, Cabbage Butterflies, Milbert's Tortoise Shell, Mourning Cloak and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, while butterfly bush attracts the migratory Monarch.
Host Plants
Caterpillars eat leaves and stems of the host plants on which they hatch. For instance, the larval form of the Monarch butterfly eats milkweed. Caterpillars of another common US butterfly, the Tiger Swallowtail, eat yellow "tulip" poplar. Planting the right host plants for the larval stage of your favorite butterflies helps replace vital habitat in urban and suburban areas, where vast areas of formerly open field have been replaced by concrete and asphalt.
Resting Places
Trees, shrubs, log piles and rocks provide resting places and shield butterflies from wind. Butterflies will bask in sunny places when the temperature is under 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and roost overnight until midday.
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