Blooming Urban Table: Flower Resources for Butterflies in Small Wastelands of a Large European City

Insect-flower relationships are among the most important ecological interactions occurring in the terrestrial ecosystem. In urban areas, such interactions are often disturbed or altered. However, few studies report floral affinities of butterflies in Europe, and our understanding of flower utilisation by butterflies in urban habitats is limited. Our study included long-term (2017-2022), qualitative observations and quantitative analyses of flower visits performed in 2021 and 2022 on five urban wastelands located in Łódź (Central Poland). We have recorded observations of 39 butterfly species on 81 species of plants (representing 19 families and 16 orders of plants). The majority of butterfly species were associated with many species of plants. We did not record tight associations with the colour of flower or the depth of flower, although in general, butterflies were observed on pink (21 species of plants), yellow (20 species of plants), white (17 species of plants) and violet (13 species of plants) flowers, while they were not recorded on orange, blue or red flowers. The most commonly visited flowering plants represented Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceae. The highest number of butterflies was recorded on Jasione montana (22 species of butterflies), Cirsium arvense (19 species of butterflies), Berteroa incana (22 species of butterflies), Trifolium pratense (22 species of butterflies) and Origanum vulgare (21 species of butterflies). The highest number of individuals was observed on Centaurea stoebe, Senecio jacobaea, Cirsium arvense and Echium vulgare. Our study showed that urban wastelands provide flower resources for butterflies and should be included in the management practices of large cities.