Bugs & Butterflies UK
Owl Butterfly | Assorted Caligo PUPAE
Owl Butterfly | Assorted Caligo PUPAE
Owl Butterflies are some of the largest butterfly species in the world and are a staple of any butterfly house exhibit - they also happen to be one of the easiest tropical butterflies to care for. The adult butterflies have a long lifespan of many weeks (often 3 months or more!), typically flying at dawn and dusk when they also search for fruit from which sugars are obtained - cut fruit or a sugar solution should form their diet as, curiously, these butterflies do not drink nectar from flowers. As they tend to fly during the cooler parts of the day, Owls tend to be very tolerant of lower temperatures and I often observe them flying on cool evenings without any heating (at approx 15 C.). I have also seen reports of species like Caligo illioneus still merrily flying at temperatures as low as 12 degrees! All of the Owl species supplied in this mix feed on plants such as Canna Lily, most Banana species, Bamboo, Gingers and several other related plants. Eggs and pupae are collected at random from host plants in the butterfly house on the day of dispatch.
Difficulty - Easy (1/10)
Host plants - Canna; Banana; Ginger; Heliconia; Bamboo
Temperature - Room temp. or warmer
Lifecycle - Continually brooded with adults living for months