Butterflies need water as well as food, so add fresh, clean water nearby. You could include a small saucer on your feeder to hold some water, with stones for the butterflies to rest on while drinking.
A flat rock placed within the saucer provides a convenient spot for butterflies to land and rest as they take up water, minerals and nutrients. Muddles are easy to make. In addition to the container and stone, add some sand, mushroom compost and water to create a slurry mix.
Mud Puddles Contain Salt and Minerals
For those, butterflies visit puddles. By sipping moisture from mud puddles, butterflies take in salts and minerals from the soil. This behavior is called puddling, and is mostly seen in male butterflies.
The simple syrup used in these feeders is made like that for hummingbird nectar which is typically a 4-to-1 ratio of water to sugar, however butterfly nectar needs to be a somewhat weaker solution, a 10% sugar-water solution (1 part sugar to 10 parts water) is preferred.
If they do get wet, they simply remain still until the water evaporates off their body. They often bask in the sun to dry their wings.
Sand and a small amount of rock salt and water are placed in the basin. After the water evaporates, the salt-laced moist sand becomes an ideal place for puddling butterflies to congregate. If you want to make your own puddling spot, the best locations are near a flower bed.
What is puddling? The term "puddling" refers to the process in which butterflies 'sip' from puddles of water, mud, dung or carrion on the ground.
One of the highlights of this phenomenon was seeing how different types of butterflies would come and play with a child seeker Miss Anastasia Vallee for many hours. On one occasion, a butterfly stayed with her for 2 days eating, playing, and sleeping with Anastasia as though they were the best of friends.
SUNLIGHT. Butterflies are cold-blooded and need the light from the sun to warm the muscles they use to fly. Not only do butterflies like the sun, the plants the they thrive on need full direct sun. Most plants need at least 8 hours of sunlight to bloom properly and provide enough nectar.
House Placement and Landscaping
The edge of a wooded area is an ideal location; the trees provide a safety factor while the open area provides room for nectar plants. Host plants should be planted nearby. Willow, elm, buckthorn, nettles and hops serve as host plants for the butterflies mentioned earlier.
Make a banquet for butterflies.
They will feed on fallen fruit such as berries and apples, as will Comma butterflies and maybe even Speckled Woods, so don't clear up all your windfalls just yet. If you don't have any fallen fruit, put out some of your own, mushy bananas and soft mangos are favourites.
Provide food. Making your garden an attractive space for an insect starts with food. Adult butterflies get their energy from nectar, and they visit gardens looking for flowers to feed on. Grow nectar-rich flowers in the spring and summer months to encourage them.
Fill your container with sand up to the very top. To provide the salts and amino acids the butterflies are searching for, add a small amount of soil, composted manure or a pinch of salt and mix with your sand.
Puddling is a behavior many butterflies (and a few moths) engage in. Puddling sites can be any of a number of places: mud, dung, fermenting fruit, carrion, urine. The key is the chemical make-up of the site, for these butterflies are looking for something specific: salt (sodium) and minerals.
Butterflies are attracted to the salt in your sweat.
Believe it or not, butterflies need salt or sodium in their diets, just like us! The natural salt and minerals in sweat can draw a butterfly to land on you. Think of it this way, your sweat is just as sweet as a flower's nectar to a butterfly.
If your butterfly has been dead a few days, it's going to be rigid. But if it has recently died and you won't work on it for a few days, stick it in the freezer. When you take it out, you can help keep it fresh and keep dust off with hairspray.
As part of the butterflies life cycle, after mating the female butterfly lays her eggs on or very near to the food plant on which the larva feeds. The eggs are usually laid on a particular part of the plant, e.g., on the leaves, flower heads, or in crevices on the bark.
If it is raining, do not release your butterflies. Wait until the rain stops. A light mist is okay as long as it is warm outside. If you can't release them within 24 hrs because of weather, please feed your butterflies using pesticide-free flowers or cotton balls soaked in Gatorade.
They sleep under leaves to hide from predators. However, butterflies with warning colours may be less hidden whilst they sleep to deter predators. During this time, the butterfly's body will enter a low metabolic state and will become inactive.