Zebra longwing facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Zebra longwing |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Synonyms | |
|
The zebra longwing (Heliconius charithonia) is a cool butterfly. It's also called the zebra heliconian. This butterfly gets its name from its amazing black and white stripes, which look a lot like a zebra! These stripes are not just for show. They are a special warning sign to animals that might want to eat them. The stripes tell predators, "Stay away! I taste bad!"
This butterfly lives in warm places. You can find it in South and Central America. It also lives as far north as southern Texas and Florida. When the weather gets warmer, some zebra longwings fly even further north into other parts of the United States.
Zebra longwings are quite unique. At night, up to 60 adult butterflies gather together to sleep in groups. This helps them stay safe from predators. Unlike most butterflies, adult zebra longwings eat pollen, not just flower nectar. Eating pollen helps them create special chemicals. These chemicals make their bodies toxic, so predators don't want to eat them.
Sadly, in some areas like Miami-Dade County, Florida, a special spray has caused their numbers to drop a lot. Scientists are still studying how this affects the environment and if the butterflies will come back.
Contents
What the Zebra Longwing Looks Like
The young zebra longwing, called a caterpillar, is white with black spots. It also has many black spikes all over its body.
Adult zebra longwing butterflies are medium-sized. They have long, narrow wings. The top side of their wings is black with thin white and yellow stripes. The bottom side has a similar pattern, but the colors are lighter, and there are some red spots. When their wings are spread out, they can measure from about 72 to 100 millimeters across. That's about the length of a credit card!
Where Zebra Longwings Live
You can find the zebra longwing butterfly in many places. It lives in South America, Central America, the West Indies, Mexico, southern Texas, and Florida. Sometimes, during warmer months, these butterflies fly north into states like New Mexico, South Carolina, and Nebraska.
In 1996, the zebra longwing was chosen as the official state butterfly for Florida. These butterflies like to live in tropical forests, moist woodlands, and open fields.
Different Kinds of Zebra Longwings
Just like there are different types of dogs, there are also different types of zebra longwing butterflies. These are called subspecies. Here are some of them and where they live:
- H. c. charithonia lives in Ecuador.
- H. c. simulator lives in Jamaica.
- H. c. bassleri lives in Colombia.
- H. c. churchi lives in Hispaniola.
- H. c. tuckeri lives in Florida.
- H. c. vazquezae lives from Mexico to Panama.
- H. c. ramsdeni lives in Cuba.
- H. c. antiquus lives in St. Kitts and Antigua.
.jpg)
.JPG)
_underside.JPG)
.jpg)
Zebra Longwing Behavior
Butterfly Migration
Even though zebra longwings usually stay in one area, adult butterflies do move between different places. Butterflies from Mexico, for example, fly north into Texas as the weather gets warmer. How long they stay in a new place depends on how far they traveled. The farther they fly, the shorter their visit usually is.
Sleeping Together for Safety
Adult zebra longwings gather in groups of up to 60 butterflies every night to sleep. They often return to the same sleeping spot. These groups help protect them from animals that might try to eat them. Being in a large group also helps them stay warm. If a butterfly sleeps alone or in a very small group, it might not show its warning colors as well, which could attract predators.
Before they settle down to sleep, butterflies from different groups might interact. They might sit near each other, chase each other, or sunbathe. This shows they know about other groups nearby. Even so, zebra longwings prefer to form smaller groups for sleeping. A group of five butterflies seems to be a good size to scare off predators.
How Butterflies Recognize Each Other
Zebra longwing adults meet up every night to sleep together. They start gathering a few hours before sunset and usually leave within two hours after sunrise. Since they roost at night, their eyes are good at seeing in low light. This helps them find good spots to land and join other butterflies. Their eyes also help them see the color patterns of other zebra longwings.
For shorter distances, butterflies use special smells to recognize each other. Scientists are still learning a lot about these chemical signals in Heliconius butterflies.
The Zebra Longwing Life Cycle
-
H. charithonia mating
-
H. charithonia egg; the number of eggs produced depends on the supply of pollen.
-
Young caterpillar
-
Mature caterpillar
-
Adult
Eating Pollen for a Long Life
Zebra longwing adults are special because they eat pollen in addition to sipping nectar. This helps them live a long time. They can live up to 3 months in the wild and even longer in a lab! Eating pollen also helps them develop their warning colors and mimicry. Butterflies that eat pollen are less tasty to predators. They also have brighter colors and are better at mimicking other dangerous insects.
Adult butterflies choose where they live based on where they can find pollen plants. A butterfly collects pollen by putting its proboscis (a straw-like mouthpart) into a flower. It moves in a special way to make the pollen stick. The pollen starts to digest right away when it mixes with the butterfly's saliva. This releases important nutrients called amino acids. Butterflies digest pollen mostly at night when they are resting.
Eating pollen helps butterflies be healthier overall. Butterflies that eat pollen live longer than those that only drink nectar. Female butterflies eat more pollen than males. This is because they need the nutrients from pollen to make eggs. If a female doesn't get enough pollen, she lays fewer eggs.
Pollen also helps make them distasteful to predators. The amino acids from pollen are used to make special chemicals called cyanogenic glycosides. These chemicals are stored in the butterfly's body and make it toxic. If there isn't much pollen available, adult butterflies can reuse the chemicals they already have.
What Caterpillars Eat
Zebra longwing caterpillars eat different kinds of passionflower plants. These include yellow passionflower (Passiflora lutea), corky-stemmed passionflower (Passiflora suberosa), and two-flower passionflower (Passiflora biflora).
Passionflower plants have tiny, hair-like structures called trichomes. These trichomes can make it hard for insects to eat the plant. But zebra longwing larvae have ways to get around them! They can pull their legs free from the trichome hooks. They also lay silk mats over the trichomes to create a smoother surface to walk on. Sometimes, they even bite off the tips of the trichomes. You can find these trichome tips in their waste! Caterpillars often try to stay on the underside of leaves, where there are fewer trichomes.
Zebra Longwing Reproduction
Finding a Mate
Male butterflies look for visual cues, smells, touch, and sounds from females when it's time to mate. For the zebra longwing, certain host plants give off smells that tell males where to find a female. When caterpillars eat a plant, the plant releases special chemicals into the air. These smells tell the male where to find a pupa (the stage before an adult butterfly) that is about to become a female. Butterflies have a good memory for places, which helps them return to their sleeping spots and mating areas.
Butterflies need to make sure they mate with the correct species. Male zebra longwings are good at telling the difference between the smells released when their own larvae eat a plant and when other insects eat it. The larvae also release smells that are similar to the plant's.
Mating Before Emerging
Adult zebra longwings sometimes show a behavior called "pupal mating." This is when males wait for a female to come out of her pupa. Two or more males might even fight over a female. The male who wins mates with the female. He then passes a special chemical to her that makes her less attractive to other males. This chemical is part of a nutrient-rich package called a spermatophore.
Even though pupal mating is often seen in butterfly farms, it's rare to see it in nature. During pupal mating, the male puts his abdomen (the end part of his body) into the female's pupa. If another male shows up, the first male will open his wings to scare him away.
Special Gifts During Mating
When male zebra longwings mate, they give the female a protein-rich spermatophore. This spermatophore is like a "nuptial gift." It has different jobs, including giving the female chemicals (cyanogens) that protect her and her future babies from predators. This is very helpful for the female because laying eggs uses up her own defensive chemicals. Among several Heliconius species studied, the zebra longwing had the highest amount of cyanide in its spermatophores.
Male and Female Numbers
When zebra longwings first hatch from their pupae, there are usually more females than males. But for the rest of the year, there are generally more males (about 68% males). This is because males usually stay close to where they were born to find a mate. Females, however, move around more to find places to lay their eggs or to find food on Passiflora plants. Because females move a lot, males rarely mate with their relatives, which helps keep the population healthy.
See also
In Spanish: Mariposa cebra para niños
