“Don’t waste your time chasing butterflies. Mend your garden, and the butterflies will come”
Mario Quintana
Butterflies are not just beautiful, they are performing a critical job. As they meander through meadows of wild flowers, they are helping with pollination. Flowers use bright colours and fragrant scents as advertisements to attract butterflies.
Most butterflies are nectar feeders. Nectar acts as flight fuel for butterflies. They have a long proboscis (feeding tube) that draws up the nectar. While feeding, they gather pollen on their bodies, which they deposit in other flowers they visit.
Unlike bees, butterflies lack specialised structures for collecting pollen. They have long, thin legs which are less efficient at picking up as much pollen as bees. However, butterflies will travel longer distances to find food. This means they can pollinate flowers in a much larger area than bees can.
Butterflies are indicators of a healthy environment. This is because they have short life cycles and so, react quickly to environmental changes. They can tell us almost everything we need to know about the health of an ecosystem. Indeed, a decline in butterflies has a knock-on effect for birds. Butterflies are certainly an integral part of nature.
What are some of the best plants for attracting butterflies?
- Buddleia—often known as the butterfly bush
- Salvia—produces rich nectar that attracts many butterfly species
- Geraniums—butterflies are drawn to their scent and abundance of nectar
- Hollyhock—source of rich nectar and serves as a host plant for caterpillars
- Forget-me-not—offers early nectar for butterflies
- Allium—the spheres of purple flowers are nectar-rich
“Butterflies are self propelled flowers”
Robert A Heinlein