The butterfly probes down amongst the florets of the thistle to find the nectaries. Meadow Thistles are possibly this species' favourite nectar source.

Not all butterflies and moths feed on nectar. The Purple Emperor (left), a large beautiful butterfly which lives in woodlands, uses its proboscis to drink honeydew produced by the aphids in the tops of the trees, and (wait for it!) to suck up liquefied minerals from dung, urine, tree sap and even the corpses of dead animals.The Purple Hairstreak (right) spends almost all its life in the tops of oak and ash trees drinking the honeydew. occasionally it can be seen at ground level feeding on the nectar of bramble flowers.

Some species of moths have no mouthparts at all - they do not feed; their only job is to find a mate and lay eggs. An example is the beautiful Emperor Moth - shown here

and the members of the primitive moth families like the Swift and Ghost Moths (Ghost Moth on the L) and the Leopard and Goat moths (Leopard Moth on the R).

Have a look at the structure of the Proboscis and the photo of the Purple Emperor on dung - use this link.

Caterpillars feed with jaws or mandibles rather than sucking mouthparts. Click here to see the structure of a caterpillar's head.

Nectar is a very high-energy food - just think of what good value honey is! Its energy value is high enough to enable some moths and butterflies to fly tremendous distances - look at the examples of butterfly long-distance travellers by going to this link.

This Green-veined White butterfly is drinking nectar from Crab Apple flowers. You can clearly see its proboscis.

Buddleia is well-known as the gardener's best butterfly bush, but there are many other plants you can select to attract butterflies and other insects. For a list of the top 100 nectar plants, click here.

Think about what happens to the food you eat! It is digested in your stomach and intestines and then absorbed into your bloodstream and taken to all the parts of your body that need it. Foods like fats and carbohydrates (sugars and starch) are used to produce energy in the organs of your body. They are 'burnt' in your cells using the oxygen you breathe into your lungs.

Butterflies and Moths 'burn' their energy-giving foods in their bodies using the oxygen they breathe in through their spiracles. Go on to the section on Energy Production.