Spiders eat butterflies. What do butterflies eat? Butterfly: description and photo

Butterflies in nature

Enemies of butterflies

Butterflies are at risk at all stages of their life cycle. The butterfly is most vulnerable in the egg, caterpillar and pupa stages. Catching a fluttering butterfly is more difficult, and sometimes it requires too much energy from the predator.

Birds
Most often on caterpillars day butterflies birds attack, for which they are the best prey. During breeding, parents bring hundreds of caterpillars to hungry chicks every day. It is estimated that birds destroy 23% of cabbage eggs and 22% of caterpillars. Some birds prefer to attack butterflies while they are resting, feeding, or absorbing moisture. The successful feathered hunter rubs his prey on a branch, then shakes it, after which the wings fly off and the predator eats only the body. But drongos (southern birds that resemble swifts) and swallows grab the butterfly in flight.

Bats
Bats pose a threat to moths. They determine the location and size of the prey using echolocation. The bat makes high-frequency sounds that are reflected from the butterfly. The mouse flies in the right direction and grabs the prey. However, if the butterfly's body is hairy, the sound is muffled and not reflected. This saves you from attack. Some nocturnal lepidopterans have auditory organs on the chest or abdomen. At the slightest sound, the butterfly falls to the ground like a stone, hoping to get ahead of bat. Some butterflies themselves make sounds that introduce bats confused.

Once the protein stored by the caterpillar runs out, the butterfly loses its ability to reproduce. Therefore, she is forced to use her proboscis to absorb liquid food.

All butterflies are characterized by the presence of a long, movable proboscis. It is formed by highly modified and elongated lower jaws and is adapted for sucking nectar from flowers. With its help, butterflies extract nectar from flowers or suck out the juice flowing from damaged trees and fruits. Day and night butterflies feed on liquid food, which they absorb using a tubular proboscis. When the butterfly is not feeding, it keeps its proboscis coiled under its head. It unfolds when the insect sucks food or water.

The length of the proboscis usually corresponds to the depth of the flower, the nectar of which the butterfly feeds on. Proboscis of butterflies different types vary in shape and length. In some tropical hawk moths (Sphingidae), their length exceeds 25 cm. Flower nectar is the main source of nutrients for both day and night butterflies. Nectar-feeding butterflies, flying from flower to flower, contribute to plant pollination. Pollen from one flower sticks to their bodies and legs and is transferred to another. Food plants (the plant where the butterfly collects nectar or sap) are not the same for different species.

Some species typically feed on fruit juice or plant sap. A number of species, including the Great Moth and Egeria, are often found growing on honeydew, the sweet secretion of aphids.

Butterflies are not as picky about food as caterpillars. However, although the main dish of most of them is nectar, each species has its own gastronomic preferences.
Even the manner of nectar absorption among butterflies of different families differs markedly. Large swallowtails drink nectar, barely touching the petals with their feet and fluttering their wings. Therefore, they choose flowers that have enough space above them for their large wings. Hawkmoths never descend or even touch the corolla, hovering in the air like a hummingbird. Other butterflies usually enjoy nectar while sitting on a flower with their wings folded or open. Many butterflies do not refuse a menu that is unattractive from a human point of view: rotting fruits and vegetables, leaking sap from damaged trees, excrement of mammals and birds, and even decomposition products of animal corpses.

Some species of butterflies do not feed as adults (for example, certain species of cocoon moths, moths and other silkworms); the proboscis of such butterflies is poorly developed or absent.

A cluster of sailfish on wet clay, from which they receive trace elements along with moisture.

Most species, being anthophiles, feed on flower nectar. Many Lepidoptera also feed on tree sap and rotting and overripe fruit. The death's head hawk moth willingly eats honey from the nests and hives of bees. Primary toothed moths feed on pollen.

Species with reduced mouth parts do not feed and live solely on the reserves of nutrients accumulated in the caterpillar stage.

A number of species from the families of nymphalids, swallowtails and others require microelements, primarily sodium, for their life.

They readily fly to wet mineral clay, to the excrement and urine of large animals, wet charcoal, human sweat - from where they receive moisture and essential microelements. Often males of these species gather in groups on wet sand and clay soils, along the banks of streams, near puddles.

As an exception, predators are also present among butterflies - cutworms of the genus Calyptra - for example, Calyptra eustrigata, which lives in the territory from India to Malaysia; and Calyptra thalictri, Calyptra lata. Males feed on the tear fluid and blood of large animals, piercing their integument with a sharp proboscis. Females feed on the juice of fruits and plants.

Most butterflies, during their short life, do not consume food at all, and live off the energy that they accumulated while in the pupal stage. But not all Lepidoptera have such a life perspective. Nature has provided some of their species with mouthparts with which they can feed.

The Lepidoptera order is one of the most numerous on our planet. It contains more than 150,000 species of butterflies. And this is not the final result. Scientists are constantly discovering new insects that were hitherto unknown. In addition, some species of butterflies have not been thoroughly studied due to their small numbers.

All Lepidoptera differ in the shape of their wings, sizes, colors, and methods of protection from predators. As for the diet, for most species of butterflies it is almost the same, and comes down to the consumption of nectar obtained from flowers. This explains the incredible craving of butterflies for bright colors. Well, nectar contains all the substances necessary for the life of these insects.

However, butterflies feed not only on nectar. Their diet also includes other foods. These include, for example, rotten fruits. From them they extract water, sugar, and vitamins. The oral apparatus of Lepidoptera is equipped with a special proboscis, with which they suck nectar from flowers and useful substances from rotten fruits. Why only from rotten ones? The thing is that they are not able to pierce the peel of a hard fruit with their proboscis.

Well, what about microelements? After all, without them, the butterfly cannot develop normally. You won't believe it, but they extract them from human sweat and organic waste animals. Some species of butterflies manage to obtain microelements from mineral clay. At the same time, both sweat and animal waste must be fresh and moist. The butterfly's proboscis cannot cope with dry excrement.

Most people classify butterflies as herbivorous insects. Let's say right away that this is a mistaken opinion. Among Lepidoptera there are also predators. Such, for example, is the well-known scoop, which can be classified as a vampire. She bites into the bodies of animals and drinks their blood. Unlike herbivorous individuals, its proboscis is quite sharp and easily pierces the thick skin of the prey.

The original way of feeding of the Death's Head butterfly. She doesn’t bother getting nectar, but simply penetrates bee hives and steals honey from them, which she feeds on.

Although most butterflies feed on flower nectar, they are considered pests. Species such as cabbageweed lay eggs on vegetable crops. The hatched larvae actively eat them, causing significant harm to vegetable growers.

There are also butterflies that feed on tree sap. Among them, for example, is a mourner who drinks birch sap.

Butterflies can be kept at home by feeding them honey dissolved in water.

A very beautiful and attractive type of insect is the butterfly. It’s not for nothing that many famous artists captured these insects, mesmerizing with their grace and beauty, in their paintings.

They are quite interesting to watch. Much of their life is unknown to us.

I wonder what butterflies eat? They flutter from flower to flower and eat something there.

Butterflies: description

Lepidoptera (moths, moths, butterflies) are an order of insects characteristic feature which is the presence of chitinous scales (flattened hairs) on the wings.

The butterfly has long proboscis, located folded under the head. Flower nectar is placed into tiny cavities by the butterfly.

We’ll find out what butterflies eat a little further below.

Like other insects, they also lay eggs, from which larvae emerge, called caterpillars in butterflies. The latter feed on their own food plants (each species has its own) and during the growth process they manage to molt several times. Then they turn into pupae.

Types of butterflies

Entomologists estimate that there are about 110 thousand different species of butterflies around the world. Let's look at some of the most attractive of them.

1. Podalirium is beautiful big butterfly from the swallowtail family.

2. The largest in the whole world are cutworms (moths), living in South America. Their wingspan reaches 32 cm.

3. The smallest ones are baby moths. Their wingspan is only 2 mm.

The sizes of the most large butterflies reach 15 cm. The most famous families: cavaliers, nymphalids, whiteworts, ocelli, mothworts, blueworts, cutworms, bears, silkworms, peacock eye I, urticaria I, admiral, thistle I, great moth, mourning and many others.

There are a huge number of species in nature that can cause significant harm. agriculture and forests: moths, cutworms, moths and leaf rollers.

There are butterflies that hatch from the pupa only to breed offspring. After this they die. These are silkworms, mayflies and others.

The butterfly begins to search for food when the protein accumulated by the caterpillar has already been used up, and the butterflies need energy to somehow lay eggs.

And in general, one cannot say that butterflies eat, because they can only drink. In some species of these insects, the proboscis, with which they absorb liquid, can reach a length of up to 25 cm. This depends on the calyx, the depth of the flower of the plant from which the butterflies drink nectar.

Having felt the plant with its paws (there are receptors on them), the insect finds out whether it is edible. Only after this the proboscis straightens out.

What do butterflies eat in natural conditions? First of all, with the sweet nectar of flowers and juice various plants. Their oral apparatus is of the sucking type and is in the form of a proboscis. But butterfly larvae are distinguished by the presence of a gnawing oral apparatus and mainly feed on plants: leaves, flowers, seeds, stems and fruits.

Some types of insects only eat certain plants. For example, the caterpillars of the well-known cabbage plant feed only on the cruciferous family. They are quite voracious and eat for days on end, sometimes causing enormous damage to forests and crops.

Despite all this, butterflies are an essential element of the ecosystem. And many animals feed on caterpillars. Adult butterflies, like many other insects, play an important role in plant pollination.

It is worth trying to breed and keep butterflies at home. This is a fairly simple and at the same time exciting activity. Breeding a butterfly from a found caterpillar or pupa in nature is possible for anyone. You just need to follow the important tips.

It should be noted that you need to pay attention to which plant the caterpillar or pupa was found on. You will need a supply of food to grow the butterfly. Because only some species are omnivorous and switch to another type of diet relatively easily.

What do butterflies eat at home? In such unusual conditions, many can be fed with some fruits, for example overripe bananas, or a prepared solution of sugar or honey with water (artificial nectar). Can also be used baby food(apricot).

Since butterflies do not have a spectrum of color and smell, so they need to be given a try first. How? Using a pin or toothpick, try to untwist the butterfly's proboscis and dip its tip into the solution, after which the butterfly itself begins to feed. It is advisable to feed butterflies at home once a day.

It is clear that the most best conditions for the life of butterflies - natural, created by nature itself.

What happens in winter?

Most species of butterflies hibernate until spring: urticaria, burdock, lemongrass. The insect wraps its body with its own wings and climbs into some hollow or crevice. Many are hiding in people's homes. If the house is warm, the butterfly may wake up in the middle of winter.

And there are butterflies that, like birds, fly south in the fall, covering many thousands of kilometers. Scientists cannot solve the mystery: how these very small creatures determine the road. It’s strange, but even very young insects find their way on their own.

What do butterflies eat in winter? They don't eat. With the arrival of winter, as a rule, you will not find flying insects or butterflies in nature, but their life does not stop there. Most of them just fall into a state of winter hibernation, so that with the onset of sunny spring they will wake up again and delight us with their beautiful amazing variety and unique beauty.