Reference photo of a pinned Heliconius charithonia specimen, upper side

Reference photo

Photo: The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London · Natural History Museum, London · CC BY 4.0 (rotated, cropped and resized). Not the specimen in Lucy’s drawer.

Tray 14 of 39

Heliconius charithonia

(Linnaeus, 1767)

Zebra Longwing

Order by November 30 for delivery by Christmas.

Your framed specimen is a different individual of the same species, chosen and mounted by Lucy.

  • Nymphalidae
  • Butterfly
  • Species range includes Texas
For young explorers

Zebra longwings sleep together in groups at night.

Adults eat pollen as well as nectar, and at night they gather to sleep together in communal roosts.

Catalog label
Family
Nymphalidae
Subfamily
Heliconiinae
Tribe
Heliconiini
Where it lives
Southern United States, Central America, South America, West Indies (Caribbean Islands)

From the catalog of Lucy Garcia Salik, PhD. A mounted specimen from a licensed supplier.

Research notes

From published sources, not from Lucy’s catalog. Each note lists where it came from.

Description

This is a medium-sized butterfly with long, slender wings. From above, the wings are black and crossed by thin, bold yellow bands. The underside has a similar banded pattern in softer, paler tones, and a few small red marks sit close to the body. Males and females look alike.

Habitat

It mostly lives in or near wooded places, such as tropical and subtropical hammocks, moist forests, forest edges and shrubby thickets. It also visits nearby open ground and fields. In settled areas it is often seen in gardens, yards and parks.

How the adults behave

Adults fly slowly and in a relaxed way. Most butterflies only drink liquids, but these adults also eat pollen as well as nectar. Adults tend to visit the same flowers again and again along a regular route. At night they gather in groups to roost and often come back to the same spot each evening. Sources suggest that roosting together may help protect them from predators and keep them warm. Males search an area for females.

Life cycle

Like other butterflies, it goes through four stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult. The eggs are small and yellow. A fully grown caterpillar is white with black spots and covered in branching black spines. The chrysalis is brown, with a pair of long projections at the head end.

For grown-⁠ups

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