Most butterflies with the characteristic long proboscis feed on floral nectar, and theHeliconius butterfly feed on pollen as well. They rely mostly on flower colour for locating and identifying the flowers. While foraging on nectar, they carry pollen on their body parts. Evidence is available indicating that the flower-visiting butterflies need not function in every case as pollinators.Leptidea synapis forages at the flowers ofViola andLathyrus without performing the reciprocal pollination service. The butterflies as a group have the tendency to visit a few flowers on a plant and then fly to another plant with the result of maximising xenogamy. The need for detailed studies over different geographical regions is stressed to fully evaluate the role of butterflies as pollen vectors.