What do butterflies eat?

Butterflies are delightful visitors to any garden. They help pollinate plants and are also visually stunning. If you want to create a butterfly garden, it’s essential to know what these colorful insects enjoy eating.

Butterflies' Food

Butterflies consume (or drink) through their proboscis, a tube that works like a straw. Interestingly, they taste with their feet! Here are some of their favorite foods:

1) Nectar

Nectar is the primary food source for butterflies, which they obtain from plants and flowers. Butterflies prefer flowers in sunny, but sheltered locations. To attract butterflies, plant flowers that bloom throughout the season, providing a steady food supply from spring to early fall.

Consider these nectar-rich plants for your garden:

Verbena – A large plant with many purple flowers on spindly stems.

Heather - A reliable year-round shrub that attracts butterflies in summer.

Perennial Wallflower – Produces pretty purple flowers from spring to fall.

Buddleia – Known as the “butterfly tree,” it blooms in various colors in July and August.

Marjoram – A perennial herb that can grow up to 80cm tall. Its white, pink, or purple flowers bloom from June to September.

2) Overripe Fruits

Butterflies enjoy sweet treats, especially in the fall, which help them stay healthy. For a fall treat, leave out overripe bananas. If you have fruit trees, leave fallen fruit like pears, plums, and apples on the ground.

3) Sugar

Butterflies often emerge from their cocoons or hibernation in the spring quite groggy. If you find a butterfly struggling, you can prepare a mixture of sugar and water, boiled and then cooled. Use a brightly colored sponge to absorb the solution. The butterfly will sip from it and gain the energy to fly away.

4) Muddy Puddles

While glucose from nectar and fruit gives butterflies energy, they also need other nutrients. This is why butterflies sometimes gather around muddy puddles. By drinking from these puddles, they absorb essential minerals and salts from the soil, which are vital for reproduction.

Invite Butterflies to Your Garden

By including these food sources in your garden, you can attract butterflies all season long, turning your garden into a vibrant display of color and life.