Butterfly food. The "dark side" of butterflies: killer butterflies and predator butterflies. Mature butterflies: what do moths eat in the wild

To the question Who eats butterflies? given by the author Screen the best answer is The most vulnerable butterfly is in the stages of egg, caterpillar and pupa. Catching a fluttering butterfly is more difficult, and sometimes it requires extra energy from the predator.
Most often, caterpillars of diurnal butterflies are attacked by birds for which they are the best prey. During breeding, parents bring hundreds of caterpillars to hungry chicks every day. It is estimated that birds destroy 23% of eggs and 22% of caterpillars in cabbage. Some birds prefer to attack butterflies while they are resting, feeding, or absorbing moisture. A successful feathered hunter rubs his prey on a branch, then shakes it, after which the wings fly off, and the predator eats only the body. And here is the drongo southern birds resembling swifts) and swallows grab a butterfly on the fly.
Much great danger represent many invertebrates for butterflies. Spiders, dragonflies, praying mantises, carnivorous Diptera prey on butterflies, and beetles, ants and parasitic wasps prefer caterpillars. Burrowing wasps and riders lay their eggs in the body of the caterpillar, less often on it. When larvae emerge from the eggs of parasites, they begin to eat the caterpillar from the inside or outside. They do not kill the victim immediately, but eat it alive. Sometimes from one caterpillar crawl out from 80 to 100 larvae of the rider. To survive, the butterflies are on different stages development resort to various tricks. Many butterflies are killed by predatory flies, praying mantises and especially spiders. It is believed that spiders that weave webs kill fewer butterflies than their relatives that watch for insects on flowers. Dangerous enemies of butterflies are parasitoids - tahini flies, wasps and ichneumons. These insects lay their eggs in the caterpillar, which does not die, but continues to grow. Together with it grow, eating it from the inside, killer larvae. Sometimes the caterpillar still dies, but more often it pupates. However, it is not a butterfly that emerges from the pupa, but adult parasitoids.
Well, and, of course, Man.
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Answer from Casket :)[guru]
Amphibians, fish, reptiles, reptiles.

Answer from Caucasian[guru]
The range of predators attacking butterflies is very wide - from humans to arthropods. Some wasps, having paralyzed the caterpillars with poison, drag them into their mink to feed their offspring (they prepare "live canned food"). Other wasps feed their larvae on chewed caterpillars. Relatively few arthropods attack adult butterflies, but still dragonflies, praying mantises, ktyr flies and spiders are for them. dangerous predators. Among vertebrates, the main enemies of butterflies are undoubtedly birds. They eat their larvae, pupae and adults. Caterpillars often form the main diet of chicks. Various types of rodents, lizards and frogs also feed on butterflies. In some countries, Lepidoptera are eaten by humans. In the Philippines, the belly of birdwing butterflies is eaten; in Mexico, caterpillars of some types of fatheads are fried and preserved; fried or candied pupae silkworm considered a delicacy in South Asia.

Answer from Question[newbie]
spider

Answer from Madina Biazyrty[active]
Many people attack butterflies.






Human activities affect the life of butterflies. They cut down forests, sow fields, and so the habitat of butterflies disappears. It is for this reason that many species of butterflies have already disappeared or have become so few that they need to be protected. The ecology has deteriorated all over the world, this also has a bad effect on the life of butterflies. Many butterflies are dying toxic substances, which are used in agriculture to kill harmful insects.
Butterflies are also caught for collections, paintings are made from their wings.
At the same time, if we imagine that caterpillars hatched from all the eggs of only one cabbage butterfly and no one will eat them, and then their offspring will continue to be born without loss for 7 years, then after 7 years the mass of all descendants will only a single butterfly will exceed the mass ... of the entire globe.
Many people attack butterflies.
The main enemies of butterflies are birds. Birds eat pupae, larvae, caterpillars and adult butterflies. Caterpillars are especially vulnerable - many birds feed their chicks with them. One titmouse feeds its chicks 600 times a day, and during the season it brings them almost 30 thousand caterpillars.
The wasps feed their larvae with chewed caterpillars, and in addition, they paralyze the caterpillars with poison and drag them into their mink - this is how they prepare food for the future. Some insects lay their eggs in the caterpillar and they hatch inside the caterpillar while the butterfly does not hatch.
Dragonflies, praying mantises, spiders, wasps catch and eat adult butterflies.
Hedgehogs, frogs, lizards and rodents also feed on butterflies.
Butterflies are very dangerous the bats. The bat makes high frequency sounds that bounce off the butterfly. The mouse flies in that direction and grabs it. Some butterflies themselves make sounds to deceive bats.
In Europe, people only enjoy the beauty of butterflies. But in some countries they eat butterflies and caterpillars - in the Philippines, Mexico, South Asia, China, South America and India. They are fried, canned, made into a candied delicacy. They are considered very tasty and nutritious. For example, in South Africa about 1500 tons of fried and smoked caterpillars of the peacock butterfly are eaten per year.
Human activities affect the life of butterflies. They cut down forests, sow fields, and so the habitat of butterflies disappears. It is for this reason that many species of butterflies have already disappeared or have become so few that they need to be protected. The ecology has deteriorated all over the world, this also has a bad effect on the life of butterflies. Lots of butterflies

The short life of butterflies, their caterpillars and pupae is full of dangers. They are preyed upon by birds, hedgehogs, bats, toads, lizards, even badgers and wild pigs. Butterflies have many enemies among predatory insects. These are predatory bugs, ground beetles, dragonflies, ants, burrowing wasps, praying mantises, ktyrs. AT summer days ktyrs sit on the branches of trees and, frozen, guard their prey. As soon as a butterfly or other insect flies past, they rush to the victim and, having dragged it into cover, suck the juices out of it. Ktyri are found everywhere. These huge flies dare to attack even large butterflies.

Butterflies, their caterpillars and pupae have many enemies. These are birds (1), huge ktyri flies (2), sucking juices from butterflies, spiders (3), luring their prey into the web, riders (4), laying eggs in the body of a living caterpillar, predatory bugs (5) and lizards (6 ).

But caterpillars have the most enemies. The most dangerous of them are riders. They lay their eggs in the body of a living caterpillar, and their larvae from the inside literally devour the caterpillar alive. Gray or brownish tahini flies
lay eggs on the body of the caterpillar, and the larvae that appear soon dig into it. Ticks and spiders ruthlessly destroy butterflies, which eat insects caught in their webs. Butterflies are constantly threatened by pathogens - fungi, bacteria and viruses.

If the female daytime butterfly lays from 200 to 300 eggs, and the number of these butterflies in nature does not increase from year to year, it is easy to imagine how many dangers await butterflies at all stages of their development. But nevertheless, although butterflies are weaker than their enemies, they thrive as a species. Therefore, they have something to oppose the enemies.

Each of us has seen a butterfly at least once in our lives. These cute creatures seem to love to flutter in the meadows and parks of our country. In this regard, it is not surprising that many people often have certain questions regarding the life of moths. For example, who knows how butterflies eat? What do they eat and where do they get it?

Let's try to find answers to these questions. However, it will be necessary to understand not only the diet of these creatures, but also how exactly they eat. Looking ahead, we note: much depends on their species and the place where the butterflies actually live.

Amazing Metamorphoses

Many people remember from the school curriculum that the life of a butterfly is divided into four stages: egg, larva, caterpillar and moth. And the largest number This amazing creature consumes food just the same in the form of a caterpillar. What do we know about this immature butterfly metamorphosis? What do young caterpillars eat?

To be honest, these creatures can eat almost all types of plant foods. For example, the same tree leaves, fruits or berries. In general, there are no restrictions, although each type of butterfly has its own preferences. They depend on the habitat, as well as on the abundance of flora that reigns there.

Mature butterflies: what do moths eat in the wild?

You should start with the fact that some butterflies do not eat anything at all. It may sound strange, but that's the reality. Take, for example, the moon moth that lives on the island of Madagascar, it doesn’t even have signs oral apparatus. And she lives at the expense of those nutrients that managed to be deposited in her body during her stay in the form of a caterpillar.

But this order of things is not at all the norm in the world where butterflies live. What do these creatures eat then? So, for a better understanding, let's analyze their diet in more detail.

• Pollen and nectar are the basis of their nutrition, because they contain almost all the elements necessary for life.
• Rotten fruits. Given the features, this food is ideal for drinking it with a thin proboscis.
• Manure and bird droppings are not the most pleasant things for us, but moths find many useful minerals there.

What to feed butterflies at home?

Some naturalists keep these amazing creatures Houses. At proper care butterflies can live in such conditions quite long period and sometimes even leave offspring. What to feed them in this case?

First of all, it is necessary to provide them with the same products that they would have in the wild: rotten fruits, pollen, tree sap, and so on. You can also prepare homemade nectar, for this you need to dilute sugar with ordinary water at room temperature.

It should also be remembered that there are diurnal and In this regard, a completely logical question arises: “What do night butterflies eat?” In general, the same as ordinary ones, only they will eat only in the dark or in a slight twilight.

The butterfly belongs to the Lepidoptera order. In nature, there are a huge number of varieties of these insects, while most of of them have been little studied. They feed with the help of a proboscis formed by modified lower jaws.

What do butterflies eat in nature

The need for nutrition in a butterfly arises as soon as the protein reserve accumulated at the caterpillar stage runs out, since after that it loses the ability to reproduce. At first glance, it seems that butterflies differ from each other only in color. But with a more detailed comparison, you can see that there are a lot of differences. For example, the manner of eating an insect and preferences in choosing food are different.

The length of its proboscis depends on which method of absorption of food a butterfly chooses. Basically, she just sits on the flower with her wings spread and folded and enjoys the nectar. But some of them prefer to drink nectar, slightly touching the petals of a flower and fluttering their wings (for example, large sailboats). Therefore, they fly up to large flowers so that nothing interferes with their wingspan. There are species that, like a small hummingbird, hover over a flower without touching it at all. These butterflies include hawks.

• It is well known that most butterflies feed on flower nectar, which contains the nutrients necessary for the life of the insect.
• In second place of their preferences are rotten fruits, or rather the juice of these fruits, which they suck out through their proboscis. In rotten fruit great content sugar, water and vitamins.
• Some types of butterflies require certain substances that are difficult to find in nature. Just bird droppings, manure of large animals, human sweat contain the minerals necessary for butterflies, therefore such food sometimes gets into their diet.
• Many butterflies love to feed on the sap of trees, sucking out nutrients from them. Interestingly, almost every butterfly has a favorite plant, and it will fly up to it, ignoring other trees.
• Science knows rare species winged beauties, which, contrary to popular belief, are predators. For example, Calyptra cutworm butterflies prefer animal or human blood. It is worth saying that such insects were initially endowed with a sharp proboscis that can pierce the skin.

In nature, there are butterflies that do not feed in adulthood (for example, peacock-eye and ocellar butterflies). As a result, their proboscis is either absent or underdeveloped.

What do domestic butterflies eat

Feeding a butterfly in captivity better times in a day. Very good fit for them water solution with honey or sugar (in a ratio of 2:1). You can also include rotten fruits in the diet, their choice is varied, the main thing is that the fruits are juicy. The taste buds of butterflies are located on the front legs, so in order for it to start eating, it is necessary to carefully transfer it to the food source. Some butterflies have poorly developed receptors, so sometimes it is necessary to turn their proboscis to help them taste food.