What should i feed caterpillar

Our most common and widespread species of butterfly choose easy-to-find foods. Wild grasses provide nourishment for Gatekeeper , Meadow Brown and Skipper family caterpillars — a great excuse to let an area of your garden grow wild.

The caterpillars of the Lunar Hornet Moth bore into Sallow trees where they feed on the living wood inside for about two years. The caterpillars rarely cause much damage to the trees but when they are cut down you can easily see the old burrows in the wood, the width of your little finger.

You may think of this as disgusting but they all perform important roles as scavengers; without them, we would be knee-deep in rotting carcasses. Large Blue butterflies have an unusual lifecycle that relies on a particular species of red ant.

The young caterpillars begin their lives feeding on the flowers of Wild Thyme or Marjoram. There the caterpillars feed on ant grubs before pupating underground.

When the butterfly emerges it crawls up out of the ant nest before expanding its wings. Dingy, Buff, Common , Muslin, Rosy and Scarce Footman moths all feed on lichens growing on tree trunks, fence posts, old walls, various mosses and decaying vegetable matter.

A gallon-size jar or old fish tank will provide a luxurious, easy-to-clean home. Once you have a suitable container, you'll need to add a few things to give the place a "homey" feel. Since some caterpillars burrow in the soil to pupate , it's a good idea to line the bottom of your container with an inch of slightly moist sand or soil.

The soil shouldn't be too wet—you don't want to end up with condensation on the sides of your jar. Other caterpillars hang from twigs or other surfaces to pupate. For them, add a stick or two, secured in the soil and leaning against the side. This also gives the caterpillar a way to climb back onto its food plant should it fall off. To keep the caterpillar's food plant fresh, place the stems in a small jar of water.

Fill any space between the stems and the lip of the jar with wadded paper towels or cotton balls to prevent your caterpillar from falling into the water and drowning. Put the jar with the food plant into the caterpillar jar. When the butterfly or moth emerges, it will need a place to cling while it unfurls its wings and dries them. Once the caterpillar pupates, you can tape a paper towel to the wall of the jar or aquarium to give the adult a place to cling.

Place the tape at the top and allow the paper towel to hang freely to the bottom. Sticks also work well for giving the butterfly or moth a place to hang. You don't need to provide water; caterpillars get their moisture from the plants they consume. Cover the jar opening with a fine mesh screen or cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band.

If you don't know what kind of caterpillar you've found, feeding it can be tricky. Most caterpillars are herbivores, eating only plants.

Some caterpillars feed on a variety of food plants, while others consume only a specific plant. You can't force a caterpillar to eat something different—it will simply stop eating. Trial and error may be required to find the proper food for your caterpillar. Your first and most important clue is where you found the caterpillar. If it was on a plant, there's a good chance that's its food. Take some cuttings of the plant, including new and old leaves as well as flowers if the plant has bloomed.

Some caterpillars prefer old leaves to new ones, and others may feed on the flowers. Offer the cuttings to your caterpillar and see if it eats anything. If the caterpillar wasn't on a plant at the time you found it, you'll have to make some educated guesses about what to feed it. Start with the nearby plants, taking cuttings and offering them to the caterpillar.

If it eats one, you've solved the mystery and should continue to collect that plant for feeding. If you're stumped about the caterpillar's food preferences, try introducing one or more of the most common caterpillar food plants: oak, willow, cherry, poplar, birch, apple, and alder.

Some herbaceous plants, such as dandelions and clover, are common hosts for larvae. When all else fails, try a few bits of apple or carrot. Debbie Hadley. Entomology Expert. Debbie Hadley is a science educator with 25 years of experience who has written on science topics for over a decade. Updated January 18, Butterfly Caterpillar Host Plants American painted lady pearly everlasting American snout hackberry black swallowtail dill, fennel, carrot, parsley cabbage whites mustards checkered whites mustards common buckeye snapdragons, monkey flowers eastern comma elm, willow, hackberry emperors hackberry giant swallowtail lime, lemon, hoptree, prickly ash grass skippers little bluestem, panic grass greater fritillaries violets gulf fritillary passion vines heliconians passion vines monarch butterfly milkweeds mourning cloak willow, birch painted lady thistles palamedes swallowtail red bay pearl crescent asters pipevine swallowtail pipevines question mark elm, willow, hackberry red admiral nettles red spotted purple cherry, poplar, birch silver-spotted skipper black locust, indigo spicebush swallowtail spicebush, sassafras sulphurs clovers, alfalfa tiger swallowtail black cherry, tulip tree, sweet bay, aspen, ash viceroy willow zebra swallowtail pawpaws.

Featured Video. View Article Sources. Cite this Article Format. Hadley, Debbie. What Do Caterpillars Eat? How to Feed and Care for a Caterpillar. Butterflies and Moths, Order Lepidoptera. Perennials for Caterpillars in the Butterfly Garden. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data.

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American painted lady.