Each of us has seen a butterfly at least once in a lifetime. These cute creatures, like sunbeams, love to flutter in the meadows and parks of our country. In this regard, it is not surprising that many people often have certain questions regarding the life of moths. For example, who knows how butterflies eat? What do they eat and where do they get it?
Let’s try to find answers to these questions. However, it will be necessary to understand not only the diet of these creatures, but also how they feed. Looking ahead, we note: a lot depends on their type and place, where, in fact, butterflies live.
Amazing Metamorphoses
Many people remember from the school curriculum that the life of a butterfly is divided into four stages: an egg, a larva, a caterpillar and a moth. Moreover, this amazing creature uses the largest amount of food just in the form of a caterpillar. What do we know about this immature butterfly metamorphosis? What do young caterpillars eat?
To be honest, these creatures can eat almost all types of plant foods. For example, the same leaves of trees, fruits or berries. In general, there are no restrictions, although each species of butterfly has its own preferences. They depend on the habitat, as well as on the abundance of flora that reigns there.
Mature butterflies: what do moths eat in the wild?
To begin with, some butterflies don’t eat anything at all. It may seem strange, but such is the reality. Take, for example, the moon mole that lives on the island of Madagascar, it does not even have signs of a mouthpart. And she lives at the expense of those nutrients that managed to be deposited in her body during her stay in the form of a caterpillar.
But this order of things is not at all the norm in the world where butterflies live. What do these creatures eat then? So, for a better understanding, let's analyze their diet in more detail.
- Pollen and nectar are the basis of their nutrition, because they have almost all the elements necessary for life.
- Rotten fruit. Given the characteristics of the oral apparatus of butterflies, this food is ideal for drinking it with a thin proboscis.
- Manure and bird droppings are not the most pleasant things for us, but moths find many useful minerals there.
How to feed butterflies at home?
Some naturalists keep these amazing creatures at home. With proper care, butterflies can live in such conditions for a rather long period, and sometimes even leave offspring. What to feed them in this case?
First of all, it is necessary to provide them with the same products that they would have been free: rotten fruits, pollen, tree sap, and so on. You can also cook homemade nectar, for this you need to dilute sugar with ordinary water at room temperature.
You should also remember that there are day and night butterflies. In this regard, a logical question arises: "What do the night butterflies eat?" In general, the same as ordinary ones, only they will only eat in the dark or in a small twilight.