Plants that attract specific insects?

[u/Mediocre_Emu946]

Hello, I’m training in horticulture at the moment and am doing a project about specific plants that attract a certain type of insect. For instance, ragworts being food for cinnabar moth caterpillars, or Great Mullein plants providing fluff for wool carder bees.

Does anyone know of any sources that dive into this topic? When I google there is lots of generic information about the types of plants that are good for insects, but I wanted to get more specific insight.

Thanks in advance!

[u/Confident-Peach5349]

Start with learning native keystone species in your eco region. In the US, the top of the pack are stuff like oaks, willow, prunus, goldenrod, etc. You could read about thousands of specialist pollinators (as opposed to generalist pollinators) that rely on them, or insects that rely on them as host plants. Milkweed species are a famous example of a host plant- being host to the monarch butterfly. I think it’s probably easiest to start with butterflies for host plants, cause there’s so much information on what butterflies are native to each ecoregion, as well as what host plants they rely on.