Numerous butterflies feed on nectar from flowers as adults, but some may use sap, fruit, aphid honeydew, mud, dung, carrion, or blood. Most adults are spurious pollinators, because food intake is not always necessary and are opportunistic, with each individual visiting perhaps dozens of plant species. The larvae typically feed on the flowers, fruits, stems, or roots of their host plants and in some species, the adult will feed on the nectar of the host plant and may aid in the pollination of that plant.
Butterfly families and genera common on Montana flowering plants and their larval host plants (click on the insect names in table to view images if available):
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