Caterpillar Host Plants for the Most Common Butterflies
 | Caterpillar of Monarch butterfly on Milkweed
(courtesy National Wildlife Service) |
Here is a list of the caterpillar host plants that will feed the butterfly larva you are most likely to see in your backyard and local area. Some plants like nettles and clovers host many larva. It might take no effort at all to make sure some plants stay in your garden. I have a False Indigo (Baptista australis) in my yard that I was going to remove until I found out how many caterpillars it will host. For a list of plants that can feed more than one butterfly larva species, see
butterfly host plants
Adding and encouraging these plants will go a long way to attracting butterflies to your garden. If you provide plants and conditions for the complete butterfly life cycle, you are more likely to have butterflies spend generation after generation in your garden. Butterfly Gardening is not hard. Just provide larval host plants, nectar plants for adults, moisture and place to hibernate and hide.
| CommonButterfly/Caterpillar | Scientificname of Butterfly/Caterpillar | HostPlant(s) | | Orange Sulphur | Colias eurytheme | Alfalfas (Medicago), Clovers (Trifolium)many legumes (beans and peas like Baptisia australis) | | Clouded Sulphur | Colias philodice | Clovers(Trifolium), vetches (Vicia), alfalfas (Medicago), False Indigo(Baptisia australis) | | European Cabbage White | Pieris rapae | Mustards (Brassicas), nasturtium, spider flower (Cleome) | | Spring Azure | Celastrina argiolus | Dogwoods (Cornus), Viburnum, blueberries (Vaccinium) | | Coral Hairstreak | Satyrium titus | Wild cherry, wild plum (Prunus) | | Gray Hairstreak | Strymon melinus | Many but prefers legumes and mallows (Malva) | | Common Wood Nymph | Cercyonis pegala | Grasses | | Monarch | Danaus plexippus | Milkweeds (Asclepias) such as Butterfly weed | | Viceroy | Limenitis (or Bailarchia) archippus | Willows (Salix), poplars (Populus) | | Mourning Cloak | Nymphalis antiopa | Willows (Salix), birches (Betula), elms (Ulmus) | | Red Admiral | Vanessa atalanta | Nettles(Urtica) | | Painted Lady | Vanessa cardui | Many, but prefers thistles; Hollyhocks | | American Painted Lady | Vanessa virginiensis | Artemisia | | Silver-spotted Skipper | Epargyreus clarus | Wisteria, locust (Robinia) | | Common Sooty Wing | Pholisora catullus | Pigweed, lamb's-quarters | | Tawny-edged Skipper | Polites themistocles | Grasses | | Checkered Skipper | Pyrgus communis | Mallows (Malva, Sidalcea) |
From Caterpillar Host Plants Return to Butterflies
|
