A Host Plant For Butterflies

Host plants serve as incubating stations for butterflies and moths, places where the females can lay eggs. 

When butterflies, these beautifully winged wonders, move on to the next stage of metamorphosis and become larvae or caterpillars, they proceed to eat their way through their former nursery to fuel their prodicious growth, using opposable toothed mandibles that can only be seen with a magnifying glass.

As the caterpillar grows, it molts its outer layer of skin from four to six times, much like a snake.  Once the caterpillar has eaten its fill, it casts off its final skin and enters the third stage, the pupl phase, where it generally disappers into a case.  That case is known as a chrysalis in the case of butterflies and a cocoon if the pupa is a moth.

A magnificent winged adult emerges anywhere from one week to several months later, depending on the species.  Once fully emerged, the adult will hang upside-down by its legs for several hours until its soft wrinkled wings fully unfold and harden for flight.

Caterpillars Diet

While adudlt butterflies and moths generally find a variety of nectar-producing plants appealing, caterpillars typically have very specialized diets.  For instance fodder for the sleepy orange caterpillar consists mostly of senna.  Monarch caterpillars feed solely on milkweed, also known as butterfly weed, while cinnabar moth caterpillars eat ragwort.

Both these plants not only supply monarch and cinnabar caterpillars with sustenance, but they also increase their survival odds because they are poisonous to many of their predators.

Caterpillars are such picky eaters that butterflies are very particular about  where they lay their eggs.  And how do female butterflies know which plants to use as hosts for their young?  Special taste receptorslocatedin the feeet of butterflies both sense sweet liquids and allow many species to “feet taste” the leaves, ascertaining the plant’s suitability as a host. 

Moths have similar taste receptors in their antennae.  In addition, both butterflies and moths identify plants by their shapes, colors, and odors  Still, favored host plants for any given species may differ from place to place because taste preferences can vary from one region to the next.