question about feeding butterflies

[joachim]

Hello, I have some living p.memnon and P. machaon. I would like to keep them alive and want to know how to feed them I have been to butterfly parks and they had flowers but today it is so very cold and there are no flowers and those I could buy are surely sprayed with pesticides.

Thanks joachim

[kevinkk]

I've used hummingbird nectar with electrolytes for Papilios and they lived quite a while, I never gave them any salts or minerals,
but the polyxenes I was breeding did well.
I've read some unpleasant ideas for mineral salts, but something like Gatorade or a sports drink might work.

I just used a toothpick to unfurl the proboscis and put the end in the nectar, and they would resist, or start drinking and
sit until they filled up.

[Adam Cotton]

I recommend about 5-10% honey mixed with water, and you can add a tiny bit of Gatorade if you like but it's not essential. Don't use sugar dissolved in water as that can crystallise in the butterfly gut. Honey is derived directly from flower nectar, so is basically exactly what butterflies eat naturally.

The memnon will need to drink rather a lot due to their size. I used to keep them in room sized flight cages and I hung fake flowers made from Coke bottle tops painted bright red with yellow sponge chunks in the well which is filled with honey solution:



You can see a male memnon hovering nearby.

Here's a close up of the fake flower made from a bottle:



Of course it is probably impractical for you to keep your butterflies this way, and if you just want to feed them in a small space use sponge or tissue paper in a small container, pour the honey solution in to wet the sponge/tissue (don't use cotton wool) and then holding the butterfly above the base of the forewings on the costa put it on the sponge so that at least its forelegs touch the wet sponge. Then if it doesn't start feeding by itself use a pin to unroll the proboscis as mentioned above. Often once the legs touch the sponge it will feed by itself because butterflies 'taste' with their forelegs.

Adam.

[Adam Cotton]

I should add that only males need minerals, so a little Gatorade mixed with the honey solution would be good for males. Females don't need anything more than the honey solution.

Adam.

[joachim]

Hi, thanks all, I just tried it and the femle drank almost all the solution. good honey from Germany and fresh water.


Joachim

[mothman55]

Thanks Adam, that's good to know. I used to feed either a honey solution or sugar solution. I will stay away from the sugar from now on.

[bobw]

I always use sugar solution BUT you can't use ordinary granulated sugar as it can recrystallise inside the insect. I always use pure fructose, otherwise known as fruit sugar, which is available at most supermarkets, and doesn't have this problem.

I just soak a cotton wool pad with this solution and leave it on the outside of the cage. Most butterflies will feed themselves from this but some groups, such as Papilionidae and Pieris are reluctant to do so and have to be encouraged by unfurling the proboscis with a pin, once they get the taste they will generally continue to feed.

[kevinkk]

That's all interesting, just a week ago, there was some discussion over at Actias about using honey, there were differing opinions,
the consensus seemed a little inconclusive, if it was a thread you've read, I think the originator had some other issues besides
what was being fed to the Papilios in question.
I didn't know sugar could recrystallize in an insect, besides having no nutritional value other than calories.

[exoticimports]

Ok, great info. Now, what if we put Adams honey flower outside? Will it attract springtime butterflies? Im thinking early papilio glaucus, since they rarely alight, except on lilac.

[Adam Cotton]

I can't see why my artificial flowers wouldn't work outside. Papilio species are highly attracted to bright red.

Adam.

[joachim]

Adam, you open a shop and sell those artificial flowers!

Joachim

[joachim]

Hello, I have got some females. lt them fly a litte around and they like my hone/water mix.
I also had some Papilio machaon ( Europe ) but they won´t drink. (May I should add some whiskey )

Joachim

[bobw]

As stated above, most Papilio (and a few others such as Pieris) won't feed themselves except from flowers. If you unfurl the proboscis with a pin and put it on the feeding pad they will feed once they get the taste, this becomes progressively easier as they get used to it.

[joachim]

I did so but the machan won´t drink. Will try later withanother honey

[bobw]

...or you could try Fructose, that's what I use and machaon have always taken it.