Prepare a butterfly buffet

Dippy lived during the Jurassic Period, which ended roughly 145 million years ago.

If we were to go back in time, we would have seen the familiar sight of a creature that looks like a butterfly, sipping nectar.

But modern butterflies didn’t evolve until around 40-50 million years ago, along with tube-shaped flowers. Find out how you can help attract these beautiful creatures to your garden by building a butterfly buffet!

You will need

• two saucers or plates in different sizes
• epoxy glue
• overripe fruit, sliced
• a plant hanger or wire (optional)
• pebbles or decorative stones (optional)

Instructions

1.    Clean the saucers or plates and let them dry thoroughly.

2.    Glue the smaller plate inside the larger one with the epoxy. Let dry and cure (see the directions on your product for how long to wait).

3.    Put some pebbles or decorative stones in the smaller plate, to give your visitors a place to land.

4.    Use a plant hanger or wire to suspend the station from a branch or hook. If there are no cats around you can put the feeding station on the ground or on top of an overturned garden pot. 

5.    Add some sliced overripe fruit like oranges, soft bananas, berries, pineapples, melons, pears and plums.

Tips

Butterflies also need water. You can make a drinking water source by filling the station with fresh, clean water and pebbles for the butterflies to rest on.

Nectar and fruit are high in calories and necessary for their lives. But rotting fruit will attract insects too, so keep the feeder safely away from doors, windows and people.

If the butterfly action around your feeder is slow, bring some flowers into your garden. Buddleia is very popular with butterflies because it produces lots of nectar.