MAY: Heliconius charithonius EGGS

Heliconius charithonius (Linnaeus, 1767), the Zebra Longwing, is native to South/Central America, and Texas and Florida (where it is the state butterfly) in the southern USA. The butterflies gather in groups of several dozen individuals at dusk to roost communally, typically inhabiting rainforest habitat, where they breed in humid, somewhat shady environments. It is important, therefore, that in captivity we maintain a high level of humidity for species like charithonia, and offer shady areas if keeping in a greenhouse or polytunnel. Eggs are laid in small/medium clusters on the new growth tips of host plants - in my experience, Passiflora caerulea (and many of its hybrids) and Passiflora morifolia are both favourites of charithonia in the butterfly house. Caterpillars have a white/cream body with black spikes, forming a pupa which mimics the appearance of a dead leaf. Interestingly, these butterflies practice ‘pupal mating’ whereby male butterflies locate female pupae that are close to emerging and cling to them until the female hatches so that they can be the first to mate with her. These butterflies can live for several months if their diet is supplemented with amino acids, which in nature are obtained from the pollen of nectar flowers such as Lantana and Stachytarpheta, and in captivity their nectar solution can be supplemented with essential amino acid powder.