Plants for a Butterfly Caterpillar

Swallowtails

• Swallowtail butterfly species such as tiger, pipevine, pale and black are attracted to native plants and cultivated garden plants. California ceanothus provides larval food for the pale swallowtail, and the pipevine native flower provides food for the pipeline swallowtail butterfly. Dill, parsley, carrot, fennel and Queen Anne's Lace are home to the black swallowtail. Giant swallowtails lay eggs and feed on citrus species and the herb rue. The pawpaw plant is easy to grow and provides ample food for large groups of butterflies, such as the zebra swallowtail.

Skippers

• The large white skipper butterfly feeds on plants of the mallow family. Mallows such as the desert mallow and bush mallow are native to many regions of the country and may be cultivated in the garden as hosts for skipper butterflies. As skippers hatch from their eggs and become butterflies, they use a variety of flowers for nectar food. Lobelia, rabbit brush, buddleia, aster, bee balm and all varieties of salvia are among the nectar-producing plants that skippers use. Rural skipper, wandering skipper and fiery skipper use all species of native grasses as their larval food.

Hairstreaks

• Sulphur and gray hairstreak butterfly caterpillars use clover, peas, beans, lupine and lentil plants for food. The banded hairstreak instinctively chooses a variety of oak as its food source. Caterpillars have mouth parts called mandibles that enable them to chew leaves. Leaves are also their water source. As they move into the butterfly stage, they require puddles and small ponds as a water source. The common hairstreak caterpillar uses many plants as food, including hibiscus, false indigo, buckwheat, hops and senna.

Bush-footed Varieties

• Great spangled, buckeyes, painted ladies, hackberries and monarchs are classified as brush-footed butterflies. The viceroy and red-spotted purples are also in this classification and they have the widest range of host plants to eat in their caterpillar stage. The leaves of willows, poplars, plums and cherry trees are food for these varieties. Buckeyes eat plantain weeds, toadflax, snapdragons and gerardia. The butterfly caterpillar stage lasts several weeks but some species lay eggs on host plants that do not hatch until the following spring.