Long ago, when plants began exploiting animals to carry pollen between flowers, they encountered butterflies. Butterfly adults fed mainly on sugar water (nectar). Flowers adapted to this by offering little cups of nectar, positioned so that a feeding butterfly would get pollen on itself--on the proboscis or face or wings, depending on the flower--which then pollinated the next flower of the same species when the butterfly moved to find more nectar there. I said "exploit" but for most flowers and butterflies it is a reasonable trade, pollen movement for food, making butterflies a major group of pollinators.
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| swallowtail butterfly on mint flowers |