Larval Food Plant List

Select a group, or scroll down the page:

• Butterfly foodplants

• Skipper foodplants

• Moth foodplants

Food Plants for Butterfly Larvae

Species	Foodplants
American copper	sorrel, curly dock
American painted lady	pearly everlasting, everlasting, pussytoes, mouse ears, bighead eva, burdock, sunflowers, hollyhock
Anise swallowtail	anise, seaside angelica, cow parsnip, citrus trees, parsley, Queen Anne's lace, sweet fennel
Baltimore	turtlehead, false foxglove, plantain, honeysuckle, viburnum, wisteria
Buckeye	plantain, Gerardia, snapdragon, Indian paintbrush, butter & eggs, stonecrop
Cabbage butterfly	cabbage, collards, broccoli, winter cress, mustards, brussel sprouts, cauliflower
California dogface	false indigo, clovers, pea
California sister	oak, live oak, chinkapin
Checkered white	cricifers, bee plant, turnip, mustards, wild peppergrass, shephard's purse, sweet alyssum, fleabane
Cloudless sulphur	sennas, partridge pea, sensitive pea, clover
Comma	elm, nettle, hops, false nettle, willow
Common sulphur	clover, vetch, trefoil, alfalfa, legumes
Compton's tortoiseshell	white birch, willow, poplar, elm, beech, sallow
Dainty sulphur	marigold
Dogface butterfly	false indigo, lead plant, prairie clover, white clover, alfalfa, soybean
Eastern black swallowtail	carrots, dill, parsley, parsnip, caraway, parsnip, celery, Queen Anne's lace (wild carrot ), fennel, rattlesnake weed, rue, Texas turpentine broom
Eastern tailed blue	alfalfa, vetch, clover, peas
Fritillaries	violets
Giant swallowtail	prickly ash, hop tree, various citrus trees, rue, gas plant
Goatweed butterfly	goatweed (Croton)
Gorgone checkerspot	sunflowers, ragweed, asters
Gray hairstreak	mallow, alfalfa, peatons, false indigo, bean, white clover
Great spangled fritillary	violets
Green comma	birch, alder, willow, currant, gooseberry, azalea, rhododendron
Hackberry butterfly	hackberry, sugarberry
Julia butterfly	passionvine
Melissa blue	wild licorice, alfalfa
Milbert's tortoise shell	nettles
Monarch	milkweed, dogbane
Mourning cloak	willow, cottonwood, poplar, elm, hackberry, rose, birch
Mustard white	crucifers (cabbage, broccoli, etc.), cresses, mustards
Northern checkerspot	asters, rabbitbrush, showy daisy, Indian paintbrush, goldenrod
Orange sulphur	legumes, alfalfa, clover, locoweed, milk vetch, lupine
Painted lady	thistles, nettles, hollyhock, common sunflower, elm, burdock, groundsel, pearly everlasting, sage, hollyhock, mallow
Pearl crescent	sunflower crownbeard (Verbesina), New England aster
Pipevine swallowtail	pipevine (Aristolochia), Virginia snakeroot, Dutchman's pipevine, wild ginger, knotweed
Purplish copper	knotweeds
Questionmark	elm, nettles, hops, hackberry, false nettle
Queen	milkweeds
Red admiral	nettles, false nettle, pellitory, thistle
Red spotted purple	willows, poplars, quince, hawthorne, plum, cherry, apple, hawthorn
Regal fritillary	violets, milkweed, thistle
Snout butterfly	hackberry
Spicebush swallowtail	spicebush, sweet bay, sassafras, prickly ash
Spring azure	dogwood, apple, meadowsweet (Spirea), common sunflower, dandelion
Sulphurs	alfalfa, clover, trefoil, vetch, pea
Tiger swallowtail	cherry, ash, birch, lilac, aspen, poplar, cottonwood, willow, hornbeam, tuliptree, basswood, maple, apple
Viceroy	willow, pussywillow, poplar, aspen, birch, plum, cherry, apple
West coast lady	mallows, cheeseweed, hollyhocks, nettles
Western pygmy blue	lamb's-quarters
White admiral	cottonwood, poplar, birch, willow, aspen, shadbush, basswood
Whites	sweet alyssum, mustards, western peppergrass
Wood nymph	grasses
Zebra longwing	passion flowers
Zebra swallowtail	pawpaw

Food Plants for Skipper Larvae  [TOP OF PAGE]

Species	Foodplants
Checkered skipper	mallow, hollyhock
European skipper	grasses, sedges
Longtailed skipper	bean
Silverspotted skipper	locust, kudzu, wild pea, tick-trefoil, wisteria, false indigo, wild licorice

Food Plants for Moth Larvae  [TOP OF PAGE]

Species	Foodplants
Abbot's sphinx	grape, woodbine
Achemon sphinx	grape, Virginia creeper
Blind-eyed sphinx	birch, willow, cherry
Bumblebee sphinx	vibernum, snowberry, hawthorne
Catalpa sphinx	catalpa
Cecropia moth	apple, willow, maple, cherry, plum, lilac, boxelder, ash, elm, birch
Cynthia moth	ailanthus, cherry, plum, willow, ash, lilac, sassafras
Columbia silkmoth	larch
Four-horned sphinx	elm
Garden tiger moth	dandelion, plantain, dock
Glover's silk moth	lilac, willow, cherry, privet, alder, maple, wild currant, chokecherry, buffalo berries, Russian olive
Imperial moth	elm, spruce, pine, cherry, maple, birch, alder, hickory
Io moth	willow, cherry, oak, hickory, plum, elm, ash, poplar, tuliptree, basswood, sassafras, boxelder, beech, sumac, sycamore, sweetgum
Laurel sphinx	privet
Luna moth	beech, walnut, birch, oak, willow, hickory, pecan, aspen, sweetgum, persimmon, sycamore, chestnut
Nessus sphinx	grape, Virginia creeper
Pandora's sphinx	grape, Virginia creeper
Pawpaw sphinx	pawpaw, black alder
Pen mark	sphinx ash, cherry
Pink spotted sphinx	sweet potato
Polyphemus moth	elm, maple, cherry, plum, oak, basswood, apple, boxelder, hickory, birch, butternut, alder, hawthorne, wild rose, horsechestnut, dogwood
Promethea moth	cherry, sassafras, willow, poplar, ash, apple, pear, lilac, plum, privet, tuliptree, spicebush, sweetgum, basswood, birch, mountain laurel
Regal moth	sumac, willow, oka, hickory, walnut, butternut, pecan, sweetgum, ash persimmon
Rustic sphinx	fringe tree, jasmine
Tobacco hornworm	tobacco, tomato
Tomato hornworm	tomato, potato
Tuliptree silk moth	tuliptree
Twin-spotted sphinx	apple, elm, ash, willow, birch
Underwing moths (Catocala)	plum, apple, cherry, willow
Virgo tiger moth	dandelion, plantain
Waved sphinx	ash, lilac, privet
White-lined sphinx	grape, apple, dock, chickweed, purslane, willow

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This educational resource was prepared by the Young Entomologists Society, 6907 West Grand River Ave., Lansing MI 48906-9131, phone/fax 517-886-0630, e-mail YESbugs@aol.com.  Support minibeast youth education - join Y.E.S. today!