How nectar influences the population growth rate of a blue butterfly

Insects have stage-specific resources, which can complicate understanding what resources can limit populations. Sufficient host plant resources are required for survival to reproduction, but it is unclear to what degree nectar resources influence population growth rates. We study Boisduval's blue butterflies (Icaricia icarioides: Lycaenidae), a species with less reliance on nectar resources for reproduction, in a greenhouse experiment to test the importance of the adult diet. We use the experimental data in a population model to determine if the vital rates on water or nectar diets result in viable population growth rates. Our results show that a population of this species would not persist without sufficient nectar resources, and therefore many other species of butterfly would also not persist without sufficient nectar resources,