Native Foodplants Essential for the Caterpillars of Butterflies and Day-flying Moths
The Hungry Caterpillar
Caterpillars have special diets, and identifying and providing these is the key to welcoming breeding colonies of butterflies to our garden or other green space. To be of maximum value to butterflies, our garden needs to be a restaurant for the whole butterfly family, not just an adult-only nectar bar.
Caterpillar foodplants lost to habitat degradation
Everything the butterflies need should be out there in the countryside already, we shouldn’t need to do anything, but habitat degradation has put paid to that, and we now find ourselves in the position of having to reintroduce the missing foodplants so essential to the caterpillars. But first we must know what these foodplants are.
Finding your way around
Let’s start by assuming that you are interested in a particular species of butterfly and want to discover the special diet of its caterpillars.
In that case, go to the BUTTERFLIES tab, select your species, and its essential foodplants will be revealed. You will also find a few day-flying moths there, whose brilliant colours compete with those of any butterfly.
Having identified your caterpillar’s favourite foodplant, return to the CATERPILLAR FOODPLANT tab and scroll down to select it. There you will meet some other butterflies whose caterpillars feed on the same plant, letting you see some of the other species that will benefit from you growing it.
Grow the missing foodplants
Not lucky enough to have them growing on your land already, then the third step is to take the plunge and buy the foodplant, either as seeds or plug plants from one of the excellent wildflower suppliers to be found on the internet.
Why not just grow a commercial a commercial wild-flower mix. Won't they contain the necessary foodplants?
The simplest approach might seem to be to sow one or more of the many excellent wild flower mixes available from internet suppliers. Unfortunately, while a typical wildflower mix contains twenty or more types of wildflower, only three or four of these are likely to be considered suitable for egg laying by the local butterfly community. They are typically pollinator mixes designed to provide a succession of flowers over a long period. Excellent! But if we want to do more than simply attract butterflies to our green space or garden we need to make sure that their specific caterpillar foodplants are available in the right place at the right time, otherwise the female, sensing she has nowhere to lay her eggs, will move on. The foodplant must provide the correct nutrition, be non-toxic to the caterpillar, provide camouflage, and often chemicals it can concentrate in it body to make it unpalatable to predators.
Check the mixes out but if they don’t contain the food plants you want, go ahead and purchase them separately, either as seed, or to gain a head start, plug plants, either from the same seed company or one that specialises in wildflower plugs.
Not every caterpillar foodplant produces pretty nectar flowers, but each species once you get to know it, is as fascinating in its own right as those that do.
Caterpillars don’t always eat the leaves of the plants with the pretty flowers. Those of the Small Copper, one of our most common and easily handled butterflies is tied to Sorrel. As it’s wind pollinated, Sorrel naturally doesn’t sport large colourful flowers to attract insects. And as we are all aware, the caterpillars of several of our biggest and most colourful butterflies feed on stinging nettles which though not exclusively wind pollinated still only have small flowers, leaving the adults to seek their nectar elsewhere.
Many wildflowers, like Scabious and Hedge Garlic do in fact supply the complete package, with nectar rich flowers to delight the taste buds of adult butterflies and juicy leaves and buds to supply the needs of their caterpillars.
The butterfly, as it is more visible than most species, is often taken as an indicator species, monitoring the health of the environment. The drastic fall is the numbers of all but a few butterfly species in the past few decades says it all.
An alternative approach is to scroll down the CATERPILLAR FOODPLANTS menu to see which butterflies are supported by the plant illustrated. If you've seen it growing in your part of the country be sure to plant more of it in you local greenspaces and gardens.
Sheltered sites for overwintering
And don't forget that during hibernation caterpillars also need trees, shrubs and smaller plants to provide sheltered spots in which to hibernate, like those below. The same applies for species that hibernate as chrysalises and adults.
Caterpillars have special diets, and identifying and providing these is the key to welcoming breeding colonies of butterflies to our garden or other green space. To be of maximum value to butterflies, our garden needs to be a restaurant for the whole butterfly family, not just an adult-only nectar bar.
Caterpillar foodplants lost to habitat degradation
Everything the butterflies need should be out there in the countryside already, we shouldn’t need to do anything, but habitat degradation has put paid to that, and we now find ourselves in the position of having to reintroduce the missing foodplants so essential to the caterpillars. But first we must know what these foodplants are.
Finding your way around
Let’s start by assuming that you are interested in a particular species of butterfly and want to discover the special diet of its caterpillars.
In that case, go to the BUTTERFLIES tab, select your species, and its essential foodplants will be revealed. You will also find a few day-flying moths there, whose brilliant colours compete with those of any butterfly.
Having identified your caterpillar’s favourite foodplant, return to the CATERPILLAR FOODPLANT tab and scroll down to select it. There you will meet some other butterflies whose caterpillars feed on the same plant, letting you see some of the other species that will benefit from you growing it.
Grow the missing foodplants
Not lucky enough to have them growing on your land already, then the third step is to take the plunge and buy the foodplant, either as seeds or plug plants from one of the excellent wildflower suppliers to be found on the internet.
Why not just grow a commercial a commercial wild-flower mix. Won't they contain the necessary foodplants?
The simplest approach might seem to be to sow one or more of the many excellent wild flower mixes available from internet suppliers. Unfortunately, while a typical wildflower mix contains twenty or more types of wildflower, only three or four of these are likely to be considered suitable for egg laying by the local butterfly community. They are typically pollinator mixes designed to provide a succession of flowers over a long period. Excellent! But if we want to do more than simply attract butterflies to our green space or garden we need to make sure that their specific caterpillar foodplants are available in the right place at the right time, otherwise the female, sensing she has nowhere to lay her eggs, will move on. The foodplant must provide the correct nutrition, be non-toxic to the caterpillar, provide camouflage, and often chemicals it can concentrate in it body to make it unpalatable to predators.
Check the mixes out but if they don’t contain the food plants you want, go ahead and purchase them separately, either as seed, or to gain a head start, plug plants, either from the same seed company or one that specialises in wildflower plugs.
Not every caterpillar foodplant produces pretty nectar flowers, but each species once you get to know it, is as fascinating in its own right as those that do.
Caterpillars don’t always eat the leaves of the plants with the pretty flowers. Those of the Small Copper, one of our most common and easily handled butterflies is tied to Sorrel. As it’s wind pollinated, Sorrel naturally doesn’t sport large colourful flowers to attract insects. And as we are all aware, the caterpillars of several of our biggest and most colourful butterflies feed on stinging nettles which though not exclusively wind pollinated still only have small flowers, leaving the adults to seek their nectar elsewhere.
Many wildflowers, like Scabious and Hedge Garlic do in fact supply the complete package, with nectar rich flowers to delight the taste buds of adult butterflies and juicy leaves and buds to supply the needs of their caterpillars.
The butterfly, as it is more visible than most species, is often taken as an indicator species, monitoring the health of the environment. The drastic fall is the numbers of all but a few butterfly species in the past few decades says it all.
An alternative approach is to scroll down the CATERPILLAR FOODPLANTS menu to see which butterflies are supported by the plant illustrated. If you've seen it growing in your part of the country be sure to plant more of it in you local greenspaces and gardens.
Sheltered sites for overwintering
And don't forget that during hibernation caterpillars also need trees, shrubs and smaller plants to provide sheltered spots in which to hibernate, like those below. The same applies for species that hibernate as chrysalises and adults.
CREVICES IN THE BARK OF OLD TREESOld trees like this Oak are best as they have more cracks and crevices than young saplings. Don't allow them to be cut down.
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IVY-CLAD WALLSA thick coating of ivy and other climbers provides not only shelter, but nectar in spring, and berries for birds in winter.
No idyllic country cottage, then a boundary wall or old shed will do. |
THICK CLUMPS OF VEGETATIONA good thick tuft of grass or any sizeable wildflower can provide winter refuge for insects, but only if it is not mowed to the ground.
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EVEN A DILAPIDATED OUTHOUSEIn the absence of more natural alternatives a dilapidated outhouse can provide a good alternative, especially for hibernating adult butterflies like the Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell.
Avoid the temptation to demolish it, cover it will ivy or climbing roses instead. |