What are the main food items of a butterfly?

Butterflies feed primarily on nectar from flowers. They suck nectar and other liquids through a small pipe under their heads. This small pipe is called ‘proboscis’. They sip water from damp patches for hydration and feed on nectar from flowers to obtain sugar for energy.

Some butterflies get nourished by pollen, tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, and dissolved minerals in wet sand, or dirt. Butterflies are pollinators for some species of plants.

Usually, they do not carry as much pollen load as bees. However, they are capable of transporting pollen over a great distance. Some butterflies visit only certain flowers and avoid others. This phenomenon is called flower constancy. Attracted by the salt in human sweat, sometimes butterflies even land on people.