Zebra Longwing: The Friendliest Butterfly Around

A longtime favorite of staff and visitors alike, the zebra longwing (Heliconius charitonius) is our featured butterfly this week. This graceful Lepidoptera is native from South America to South Texas and Florida, and occasionally an immigrant can be found as far north as Nebraska! The zebra longwing is the state butterfly of Florida.

One very interesting thing about these beauties is that they roost communally in groups of 25-30 butterflies. In our exhibit they tend to use the same branch night after night and can be seen in the morning all resting together. These friendly butterflies even eat together, bask together (open their wings to gain warmth from the sun), and take flying trips together around the house.

The zebra longwing is extremely calm and easy to approach, so it’s a super fun addition to our butterfly family. You’re sure to see some on your next visit to Butterflies & Blooms.

PHOTO: Zebra longwings rest together
Zebra longwings resting together on their favorite branch.
PHOTO: Zebra longwings basking
A trio of zebra longwings basking together in the sun.

©2013 Chicago Botanic Garden and my.chicagobotanic.org

Butterflies in Print

PHOTO: hand-colored copper engraving.
Hand-colored copper engraving from Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium

The Lenhardt Library hosts remarkable exhibitions throughout the year. These exhibitions highlight parts of the collection that visitors might not otherwise see, and the exhibitions are among the Garden’s best-loved secrets! Stacy Stoldt, public services manager of the Lenhardt Library, curated the current exhibition, Butterflies in Print: Lepidoptera Defined, open now through August 18.

By far, the highlight is Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (Metamorphosis of Surinam Insects) by Maria Sibylla Merian, published in 1719 in Amsterdam. This volume is on loan from the Owen H. Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine, Bio-Medical Libraries, University of Minnesota.

 

PHOTO: illustration by Maria Sibylla Merian
An illustrated panel by Maria Sibylla Merian

See Butterflies in Print: Lepidoptera Defined at the Lenhardt Library through August 18, 2013.

PHOTO: Anna Maria Sibylla Merian from the 500 DM Banknote.
Maria Sibylla Merian, from the 500 deutsche mark bank note

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717) was a fascinating woman, artist, and naturalist. While she was known for her watercolor paintings of flowers and insects, embroidery patterns, and copper engravings, she is also credited with being the founder of German entomology. At age 13 she began studying the metamorphoses of silkworms and butterflies. After five years of intense study, Merian found that adult insects actually lay eggs, disproving the earlier theory that caterpillars were born out of spontaneous generation.

Divorced in 1699, she traveled with her daughter Dorothea to the Dutch Colony of Surinam (now known as Suriname) that same year to continue her entomological work and art. Her spectacular artistic abilities and scientifically accurate representations make Metamorphosis of Surinam Insects a monumental tome. Carl Linnaeus consulted Merian’s illustrations in the course of his taxonomic work in the eighteenth century. Nine species of butterflies, six plants, and two beetles were named for her. She is still a well-known historic figure today and is represented on the 500 deutsche mark bank note and a German postage stamp; she was the subject of Google’s Doodle of the day on April 2, 2013, celebrating her 366th birthday.

Butterflies in Print was designed to complement the Butterflies & Blooms exhibition that showcases native and tropical live butterflies; Maria may have even seen some of these species in Suriname 300 years ago!

Want to know more about our rare books? Read Stories from the Rare Book Collection, monthly highlights from our collection written by curator Ed Valauskas.


©2013 Chicago Botanic Garden and my.chicagobotanic.org

Flame-bordered Charaxes

A stunning butterfly from western Africa, the flame-bordered charaxes (Charaxes protoclea) is well-named: it definitely looks aflame in bright sunlight! Seen from above, the lower central portions of the female’s wings are white-hot; the wingtips display a range of yellow-to-orange spots, and a strip of brilliant orange frames each wing. (The males’ wings are a muted brownish-black, but also bordered in fiery orange.)

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A female flame-bordered charaxes (Charaxes protoclea) top view.
PHOTO: Male flame-bordered charaxes.
A male flame-bordered charaxes (Charaxes protoclea) top view.

From below, charaxes are much more toned down, colored in muted browns and grays with a single dark eye spot. Male butterflies are a subtle maroon-brown in color, while females are light tan, with a single wide, white stripe midwing. The different coloring on the wing patterns of each sex is known as sexual dimorphism, and is fairly common in butterflies (see our mocker swallowtail post for another kind of dimorphism).

Preview all the butterflies currently being exhibited at chicagobotanic.org/butterflies/species.


©2013 Chicago Botanic Garden and my.chicagobotanic.org

The Ghostly White Morpho

I am happy to report that we now have white morphos (Morpho polyphemus) in the Butterflies & Blooms exhibit! This ghostly beauty is native to Mexico and Central America including Costa Rica, like its relative the common morpho (Morpho peleides).

The white morpho gets its scientific name from the small eyespots on its wings. Polyphemus, a character in Greek mythology, was the one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa.

Our white morphos can be spotted drinking rotten fruit, which they prefer over plant nectar. This extremely beautiful, iridescent butterfly is not to be missed. She is truly stunning and worth coming out to see!

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©2013 Chicago Botanic Garden and my.chicagobotanic.org

Mocker Swallowtail Uses Imitation for Survival

PHOTO: Side view of a male Mocker Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio dardanus).
Side view of a male mocker swallowtail (Papilio dardanus) butterfly.

The mocker swallowtail (Papilio dardanus) is the newest and perhaps most fascinating butterfly here at Butterflies & Blooms.

Native to Sub-Saharan Africa, this beauty is truly one of a kind. The male mocker swallowtail is monomorphic, meaning he always looks the same. In this particular case, he is a gorgeous, butter yellow with hints of black, and two distinct swallowtails.

The female, however, is polymorphic and has the ability to mimic up to 14 different butterfly species! The species she mimics are all native African butterflies that are known to be either distasteful or poisonous to predators. Her looks have great variation and can range between all white and black, orange and black, orange with black and white, and many more options! The female form also rarely has an actual swallowtail. There are some photos below of a few of her forms.

PHOTO: Top view of female Mocker Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio dardanus).
Female mocker swallowtail (note the absence of actual swallowtails).
PHOTO: Top view of Mocker Swallowtail female (Papilio dardanus).
Another color combination of the female mocker swallowtail.

The mocker swallowtail is particularly active in the early morning and is extremely alert, so trying to get close to these beauties is difficult. Because birds (a.k.a. predators) are also active in the early morning, this is presumably a defense tactic used by these bright butterflies. That doesn’t mean you won’t see them in the display, though! They fly around all day long, so you will definitely be able to spot a few.

Visit Butterflies & Blooms to see the swallowtail in a habitat filled with hundreds of live butterflies.


©2013 Chicago Botanic Garden and my.chicagobotanic.org