Do you know what butterflies eat?

In the weeds,
See how beautiful
Butterflies were born!

Matsuo Basho

Butterflies are some of the most beautiful creations of nature. Light, beautiful, exciting and impeccable in its perfection of creation. They - like the messengers of spring, announcing the coming bright, warm, sunny days.

Butterflies were sung by the great poets of antiquity, admired their beauty and perfection, portraying on their canvases, the great masters of the brush, they were worshiped by whole nations, considering them the symbols of a pure soul.

In the world there are more than 157 thousand species of these insects, which have spread in almost all corners of the globe, except perhaps Antarctica.

There are four stages of development of the butterfly - from the egg to the adult. It is often the image of a butterfly, or rather its transformation, used for the artistic and aesthetic description of the perfection of the human beauty of the body and mind.

Butterflies are the favorite insects of children. From childhood, each of us was interested in the question: what do butterflies eat? We could spend hours watching these creatures, admiring not only their bright colors, but also the way they flutter over the flower or wash with droplets of dew. Thanks to the popular cartoons about the life of insects, we knew exactly what the butterflies eat-of course, with floral nectar!

We grew up, we had new interests, but, as before, butterflies continued to attract their impeccability. With age, the range of our knowledge expands, which means the same question: "What do butterflies eat?" We can not answer from the position of the child, but based on various encyclopaedic knowledge. So, the diet of these beauties, in addition to nectar, includes pollen, tree juice, honey and even overripe fruits - each species has its own taste preferences.

Consider what the butterflies feed on, using the example of the most common in the territory of Russia, representatives of the species of Scaly-winged Wings.

Urticaria refers to the family of Nymphalides, found ubiquitously, from Europe to Asia. There were her specimens even high in the Himalayas and the Alps. This is one of the largest representatives of day butterflies, inhabitants of the central Russian belt - the span of its wings reaches 25 mm. She lays her eggs on nettle leaves, hence the name: a butterfly-urticaria. What feeds on this insect, it is for certain known - caterpillars with pleasure eat leaves of nettle, hemp and hops.

Lemons (crab) belongs to the family of whitecaps. Due to its second name, we can determine what the butterfly-lemon tree feeds on. This buckthorn is alder. Lime caterpillars consider the leaves of the buckthorn to be a real treat, sometimes, however, they may be the leaves of another representative of this plant family - the zoster. These are the only plants that serve as a food source for brood lime.

If you want to feed butterflies - prepare a weak honey solution or offer them slices of an overripe banana or apple. Then the insects will delight you with their fluttering, becoming permanent guests.