Caterpillar/food plant associations
All Images © 2002, David L. Green

    Adult butterflies that are often seen feeding at flowers, play a minor role in our food crops (too delicate in feeding), but do play an important part in pollination of many wild flowers. Folks sometimes plant nectar bearing plants to attract butterflies, but forget that they also need food plants for the caterpillars. Some butterflies have clearly established preferences for certain plant species for feed, the monarch/milkweed association being the best known.

    I have a lot more experience with bees than butterflies, so I may not do very well at identification, but, as I note caterpillars that are obviously feeding on plants, I will try to make up a page for each, establishing a photographic record that this caterpillar, in this place, at this time, is feeding on this plant. Eventually I hope this will have sufficient data to be a valuable record.

Worldwide Caterpillar/host plant database   London

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