Zebra longwings (Heliconius charitonius) are one of four longwing and fritillary (remember the gulf Ihave been following?seems our passion plant is host plant for this one to) butterflies found in Florida.
Zebras fly slowly and don't startle easily, making them easy to follow and observe. A zebra resting at dusk can be gently coaxed to climb on your finger and to return, unflustered, to its perch. Zebras roost in groups, returning to the same location each night
Zebra longwings feed on nectar and pollen. They are the only butterflies known to eat pollen which is probably why they have a long lifespan of about six months. If denied pollen, they live a more typical lifespan of about one month
In 1996, Governor Chiles designated the Zebra Longwing as Florida's official state butterfly. The zebra, easily identified by its long black wings striped with yellow, is found in all parts of the state year round.
OK, you do remember I had my fingers crossed on B-fly post!
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Coming Soon! Historic Bridge St Pier Walkabout. The header is a teaser....I went walkabout with Judy at our local beaches today, Next zillion posts will tell all about it.
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12 comments:
Lovely. If you haven't gotten to know Roxanne at www.melange2.blogspot.com, go see her latest post and others. She's chronicling a caterpillar's voyage to becoming a butterfly.
Beautiful butterfly, Sandra. You are fortunate to have a backyard full of flowers which butterflies love. The Zebra Longwing is a beautiful butterfly for sure.
Love your header... Can't wait to learn more!!!
Have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Betsy
Yea!!! Another butterfly post!!
Love the new header - and those Zebra flutterby's too!! Those are beautiful! How fun to watch THOSE!!
Fantastic header.Great butterflies
I don'think I've ever seen one of these before.
Wrong address...www.melange1.blogspot.com
Your header is totally cool in both meanings of the word! I love the water, boats, and reflections! Wow to the zebra!!! I've never seen one, what great pictures! Now you need to find one at dusk, go snooping for a drowsy one! The one picture shows that little bit of red, and on a closer look, the tiny knobs on the end of his antenna are RED!!!! Girlfriend, you and me need to go outside, scoop up a bunch of pollen, and use it in our cooking!
I love the header! The butterflies are beautiful. Great blog!
Wow, I love your pretty coppery watery header!! Gorgeous reflections Sandra! This is a great post and I learned something. We share similar climate but I wish we had more flutterbys. That's just what I need..critters to hold still for me!!
By all means, do continue to post butterflies now and then ;) We don't have your kinds here so I find them fascinating. Never saw a zebra one before.
May I come sit with you in your garden? I'll bring the iced tea.
Best,
Bonnie
The Zebra Longwing is beautiful. This is one I would really like to see in person someday.
I put in new flowerbeds this year and have filled them with coneflower, coreopsis, butterfly bushes, hyssop, bee balm (monarda), daylilies, butterfly weed and a variety of herbs including fennel, parsley and dill. I have seen several different types of butterflies but no monarchs yet. My fennel has been home to the black swallowtail... I brought one caterpillar inside to protect him from the cardinals and he is in the pupal stage now. Then found two more young stages of the same and they are feasting safely inside on the fennel. The pupal character has a few more days before emerging.
Here I have seen a zebra swallowtail with just a splash of red between his flowing wing tails but none like this. This butterfly has such beautiful eyes... that iridescent green!
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