What do butterflies eat and how do they feed? ▷➡️ Postposmo

Butterflies are small flying insects that we always see hanging around our gardens, but an important question is about their lifestyle and diet. So in this article we will tell you what butterflies eat and a little more about them at a general level, do not stop reading it!

What are Butterflies?

First of all, we must give a brief instruction on butterflies at a general level, such as their characteristics, their morphology, where they live a little longer in case we need to further reinforce our basic knowledge about them.

Butterflies are holometabolous insects of which they enjoy a large number of diverse species, their number consists of more than 165000 different species worldwide, with a variety of colors and designs on their wings, which characterizes them as being striking for many people.

These insects have wings full of scales which have different colors and types of designs, the wings not only fulfill the role of raising this insect, they also fulfill communication signals such as courtship. Butterflies contain a spiral-shaped trunk which is used for pollinating flowers.

Butterflies have an exoskeleton and their body is divided into thorax, abdomen and head, unlike their wings, the body of butterflies is covered by small hairs that are almost imperceptible due to how soft and tenuous they are.

The males at the time of mating produce high levels of pheromone with which they surround the female for the moment of mating. Butterflies are born from an egg from which a caterpillar or larva emerges, which will later become a pulp and later become an adult.

Butterflies are usually more common in warm places because they are cold-blooded, although they can also be found in some more non-extreme cold areas, they will never be seen in Antarctica or the desert because vegetation does not grow in those places so they are not feasible places to live.

There are two groups of butterflies which are divided into diurnal and nocturnal, these can be differentiated by the colors of their wings since the diurnal butterflies have stronger and brighter colors, they have baton-like antennae, the nocturnal butterfly has duller colors in its wings, a sturdier body than that of the diurnal one and it has more porous antennae like its body and both have different wing shapes, the diurnal one has upright wings compared to the nocturnal one.

Their biggest enemy is the bat, it could be considered that butterflies are defenseless as they do not have any mechanism to defend themselves, but they have the options of being able to listen to various actions around them and with the colors of their wings they can hide from their predators.

What do butterflies eat?

It is essential to emphasize that the feeding of a butterfly will depend on its life cycle, that is, the stage in which it is in its life, since the feeding of a larva or caterpillar will not be the same as that of an adult.

The females, when having the eggs, try to put them in green areas that are full of vegetable matter, this process is important because when the hatchlings come out of the egg they will need to feed, so they will do so with the plants around them.

Larvae and caterpillars eat any food from plant matter, only unlike their birth, this time it can begin to vary with fungi, fruits, flowers, seeds, and the most common and reliable are the leaves around them with the which they ate at the beginning of their life.

The caterpillars eat leaves of plants and with this they try not only to eat the leaf, but also to eat different parts for a better use of their nutrients. The caterpillar the following month of birth can only be on the ground because it is still too young to develop wings, they have resistant and very strong jaws that allow them to chew and digest the chosen food, caterpillars can be very demanding and selective When it comes to choosing the leaves to feed on, some prefer to play it safe by only eating the type of leaves that were around them when they were born.

They spend two weeks of their lives focusing on just getting food to be able to develop and be ready for the moment in which they can have wings, which means that they have already reached the stage of their adulthood in a very short period of time. against the clock.

When caterpillars are thirsty they do not look for water to drink, instead they eat more leaves since they are composed of a large part of the water that they absorb, sometimes the fact that they only eat one type of plant can make them become native only to eat that plant.

As the larva or caterpillar develops, it prepares for the last stage which will define it as a butterfly, at which time it develops its wings and can unfold them, but it is not only its wings that appear again, they also have a trunk in the form of a spiral tube, this is known as a proboscis, this is the butterfly's tool to be able to feed by means of suction.

Now the question is to differentiate what each type of butterfly feeds on, in reality their feeding will often depend on the species of butterfly in question since each one of them is a completely different world from the other.

Butterflies usually feed on nectar, although most are like that, it does not mean that it is a rule that should be taken for granted in all butterflies, since in this case it is spoken of more than anything in the average studied and certified .

Common Foods in Butterflies

These foods are the most common and preferred among butterflies and now we will mention each of them and the reason why these insects love them and prefer them, always being their most feasible, simple, exquisite option for them.

Poland

Pollen has become the favorite food of butterflies, better said, their favorite, they can choose the flowers or plants from which to obtain pollen through smell or the extravagance of the flower such as its shape and colors, the butterfly causes an impact on the environment by contributing to the pollination process while it feeds on sugar, so it could be said that it is as beneficial for the flower as it is for the butterfly.

Fruits

Butterflies have a certain delirium for fruits which must be in the process of decomposition in order to acquire their liquids full of sugar, nutrients and water which they can absorb through their trunk, fruits are a very easy, nutritious and feasible source for butterflies being the second most reliable and common food among them.

Sap of Trees and Plants

Trees and plants tend to release liquids which are called sap, this liquid is very well used by butterflies that use it to feed themselves, it depends on what type of butterfly it is, it will choose the plant, tree and leaf from which it will feed. that some species are very picky when choosing what they will eat, there are butterflies that can eat a variety of plants and also butterflies that can only eat one type of plant, leaf or tree for their entire life without exception.

human sweat

Butterflies have a great weakness for salt and people's sweat contains high levels of mineral salt that butterflies can feel, so this is why some butterflies can land on some people's skin, by Acquiring this fluid will only be enough to be a few seconds perched in the chosen area and the process in which it absorbs the sweat does not hurt, they will look for any liquid that is full of sodium and the sweat of humans has enormous quantities of them, so with a drop will suffice for a feast.

Animal Waste

Animal waste contains huge amounts of nutrients of vital benefit to butterflies, they are also usually selective when choosing what type of manure they will choose to feed on, the chosen one will be those that are wet and without much time of being discarded, bone fresh since this way they will be able to absorb all the nutrients in a better way and much easier compared to this dry from so many days of having been discarded.

The general average butterflies feed on the nectar of different flowers which they often choose by their sense of smell, leaves, fruits of which they are favorite or the most popular are usually watermelon and banana. In a few cases of some species of excrement and some corpses, the reality is that each species has its preferences to choose its type of leaf or food, so we will touch on the main types of species and their diet.

Food according to the type of butterfly

There are two types of butterflies that are the main representation of all the types of butterflies that exist, so we will be guided by them to explain a little more about their diet.

Monarch Butterfly

They are well known due to the content they ingest in their diet since they feed on Asclepius when they are still larvae, the Asclepius contain poison which not only nourishes it but also prevents its predators from approaching it, making it lethal. Their popularity is also attributed to them due to the massive emigration they make from Mexico to California, being a really huge number of butterflies that decide to undertake a great journey together.

In fact, monarch caterpillars are very selective when choosing which plant they will eat since they only choose milky leaves to feed themselves, this plant is full of toxins that the caterpillar absorbs almost entirely, which is usually very unpleasant for predators and can cause health problems in them such as vomiting so it becomes almost untouchable throughout life.

morpho butterfly

At first, when they are small, morpho butterflies prefer to opt for plants, with peas being their favorite, later, when they grow, they prefer to opt for the nectar of the fruit, mud, excrement of different animals or the sap that may contain various trees and plants, This butterfly can only feed through fluids and liquids from the foods it chooses, since in the process of its growth it loses its teeth, which means that it loses the ability to grind its food. They can be located from Central America to South America.