Why do caterpillars eat leaves and butterflies eat nectar?

For starters, the larvae (caterpillars) of butterflies eat ONLY leaves of plants. Different caterpillars like to eat certain kinds of plants. The leaves allow the caterpillar to grow and get all of the vitamins needed to transform into a beautiful butterfly. read more

Adult butterflies generally have a coiled proboscis that permits then to suck nectar from plants. Nectar provides the adult energy source needed for dispersal and mating. The holometabolous development seen in butterflies, flies, beetles, bees and wasps, and related insects enables them to exploit two highly different habitats. read more

Most butterflies eat (actually they “drink”) from nectar plants (while the plants that caterpillars eat are called host plants). Each species of butterflies has nectar plants that they prefer but many adult butterflies will feed from a wide variety of nectar sources. read more

The plants that caterpillars eat are called host plants while the plants that adult butterflies eat (actually they “drink” nectar from the flowers) are called nectar plants. Each species of butterflies has specific host plants on which the adult butterflies lay their eggs. read more