What do butterflies eat?

Adult butterflies cannot eat solid food. They have a long tube called a proboscis that acts like a straw through which they can suck nectar from flowers. The proboscis is normally coiled up under the head when it is not in use.

Some butterflies need to obtain salts which they cannot obtain from nectar. They will gather on patches of mud or damp ground and drink . They often filter a lot of water and they can be seen producing droplets of water from their abdomen as they drink. This is often noticed in the tropics where huge numbers of butterflies can sometimes be found at the side of streams.

Somtimes these butterflies will obtain their salts in another way. They will drink the juices produced by the rotting corpses of small animals!

Although adult butterflies cannot eat solid food. Caterpillars consume large amounts of leaves. A few are carnivores like the rare Rebeli Blue, the Cuckoo of the butterfly world.