Georgia Wildlife Resources Division
2070 U.S. Hwy. 278, SE, Social Circle, GA 30025
While adult butterflies often obtain nectar from a wide variety of plants, most rely on very few plants to provide food for their caterpillars. One of the easiest ways to increase both the number and variety of butterflies is to incorporate larval food plants into the landscape surrounding your home. Enjoy planting these important caterpillar food plants and watch the beautiful variety of butterflies come to your backyard through the spring and summer seasons.
Caterpillar Food Plant | Butterfly |
| Asters | Pearl Crescent Silvery Checkerspot |
| Beans | Long-tailed Skipper |
| Bermuda Grass | Fiery Skipper Gemmed Satyr Whirlabout Sachem Southern Skipperling Common Roadside Skipper |
| Black Locust | Silver-spotted Skipper Zarucco Duskywing |
| Cabbage, Collard | Cabbage White Great Southern White |
| Cane | Carolina Roadside Skipper Southern Pearly-eye Creole Pearly-eye |
| Cassia sp. (i.e. Sicklepod, Partridge Pea) | Sleepy Orange Cloudless Sulphur Little Yellow |
| Wild Cherry | Spring Azure Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Striped Hairstreak Red-spotted Purple Coral Hairstreak |
| Cottonwood | Viceroy Mourning Cloak Red-spotted Purple |
| Crab Grass | Fiery Skipper |
| Dogwood | Spring Azure |
| Elm | Question Mark Eastern Comma Mourning Cloak |
| Fennel | Black Swallowtail |
| Hackberry | American Snout Question Mark Hackberry Emperor Tawny Emperor Mourning Cloak |
| Hickory | Banded Hairstreak |
| Hollyhock | Gray Hairstreak Common Checkered Skipper Painted Lady |
| Milkweed & Milkweed Vines | Monarch Queen |
| Mistletoe | Great Purple Hairstreak |
| Nettle | Red Admiral Eastern Comma Question Mark |
| Oaks | Banded Hairstreak Horace's Duskywing Juvenal's Duskywing Southern Hairstreak |
| Parsley, Dill & Celery | Black Swallowtail |
| Passion-vine, Maypop | Gulf Fritillary Zebra Variegated Fritillary |
| Pawpaw | Zebra Swallowtail |
| Plantain | Common Buckeye Baltimore Checkerspot |
| Queen Anne's Lace | Black Swallowtail |
| Redbud | Henry's Elfin |
| Sassafras | Spicebush Swallowtail |
| Snapdragon | Common Buckeye |
| Spicebush | Spicebush Swallowtail |
| Sunflower | Silvery Checkerspot |
| Sweet Bay | Eastern Tiger Swallowtail |
| Tulip Tree | Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Spicebush Swallowtail |
| Violets | Variegated Fritillary Diana Fritillary |
| White Clover | Clouded Sulphur Orange Sulphur |
| Willow | Mourning Cloak Viceroy |
| Wisteria | Silver-spotted Skipper |
For more information, contact WRD's Nongame Conservation Section, (478) 994-1438.