Attracting butterflies to your garden

Although we have a comprehensive list of food plant for attracting butterflies found in the Far North, there are also many beautiful butterflies that fly in the southern areas of Australia too.

Each butterfly has its own specific host plant, so if you plant the particular one that that butterfly’s caterpillar feeds on, you’ll not only attract the female, but also the male of that particular butterfly species to your garden.

Female butterflies are extremely good at finding their host plants, and when they do, they simply lay their eggs on them so that their caterpillar may hatch and have the right food source immediately.

Male butterflies are attracted to the food plants also, but for different reasons - because this is where they are going to find their females!

Flowers also attract butterflies, as they produce the nectar upon which a butterfly feeds. The best all-round nectar producing flowers are Pentas and Lantana.

Other seasonal flowers like Buddleia are excellent as well.

Butterflies that occur in Tropical North Queensland (Cooktown to Townsville & Tablelands) 

Common Name of Butterfly	Host Plant
Ulysses	Pink & Yellow flowering Euodias
Cairns Birdwing	Aristolochia tagala, Aristolochia deltanthera
Orange Cruiser, Red Lacewing, Glasswing	Adenia heterophylla – Lacewing Vine
Pale Green Triangle, Green Spotted Triangle, Green Triangle	Soursop / Sweetsop
Big Greasy, Red-Bodied Swallowtail	Aristolochia thozetti
Tailed Emperor, Macleays Swallowtail, Blue Triangle, Purple Brown-eye, Common Red-eye	Camphor Laurel
Blue Tiger, Crow Butterfly	Corky Milk Vine

Butterflies that occur in Eastern Australia (Northern Tropics to Melbourne)

Common Name of Butterfly	Host Plant
Orchard	Citrus (grapefruit/orange/lemon)
Dingy Swallowtail	Citrus
Macleays Swallowtail (Tasmania)	Camphor Laurel
Tailed Emperor	Camphor Laurel; Cassia
Common Eggfly (to Sydney)	Asystasia
Wanderer (or Monarch)	Milkweed; Swan Plant
Common Australian Crow	Oleander; Milkweeds; Ficus species
Common Grass Yellow (to Sydney)	Native & garden species of Cassia
Lemon Migrant	Cassia
Common Jezabel	Mistletoes
Small Green Banded Blue (to Sydney)	Red Ash
Common Imperial Blue (not in the tropics)	Small Acacia
Fiery Jewel	Red Ash; Native Cherry; Hop Bush
Richmond River Birdwing	Aristilochia tagala; Aristilochia parvanosa

Butterflies that occur throughout Australia

Common Name of Butterfly	Host Plant
Chequered Swallowtail	Various species of Psoralea; Pea (Fabaceae)
Australian Painted Lady	Scotch Thistle; Cudweed; Capeweed

Butterflies that occur Southern Australia

Common Name of Butterfly	Host Plant
Australian Admiral	Stinging Nettle

We hope that this has inspired you to grow the plants to host the butterflies in your area!