Zebra Longwing LifeCycle

4 min read

Deviation Actions

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Heliconius charithonia, the zebra longwing or zebra heliconian.

This is the state butterfly of Florida, and we have had them in our yard ever since we moved here.  The host plant for the caterpillars is the corky-stem passionflower, which grows like a weed around here (which is great :-)). 

Best viewed two across.

Mating; laying eggs
Zebra Longwings mating by CyclicalCore Zebra longwing butterfly laying eggs by CyclicalCore
Eggs ; Eggs hatching
Zebra longwing butterfly eggs by CyclicalCore New zebra longwing caterpillars 2 by CyclicalCore
First instar caterpillars; ~second and third instar caterpillars; ~fourth instar caterpillar
New zebra longwing caterpillars 1 by CyclicalCore Zebra longwing caterpillars 3 by CyclicalCore Zebra longwing caterpillar vertical by CyclicalCore
Recently shed ~third instar caterpillar; ~fourth and fifth instar caterpillars
Recently molted zebra longwing caterpillar by CyclicalCore Zebra longwing caterpillars by CyclicalCore
Fifth instar caterpillars
Zebra longwing caterpillars eating by CyclicalCore Fourth-fifth instar zebra longwing caterpillars by CyclicalCore
"Hanging-J," getting ready to pupate; pupae
Zebra longwing caterpillar hanging J by CyclicalCore Zebra longwing chrysalis 3 by CyclicalCore
More pupae
Zebra longwing chrysalis 2 by CyclicalCore Zebra longwing chrysalis 1 by CyclicalCore
Immediately eclosed butterfly; recently eclosed butterfly
Newly hatched butterfly by CyclicalCore Zebra longwing buttery and empty chrysalis by CyclicalCore
Butterfly rabble
Rabble of zebra longwing butterflies 1 by CyclicalCore Rabble of zebra longwing butterflies 2 by CyclicalCore
Butterflies feeding
Butterfly in pollen by CyclicalCore Zebra longwing butterfly on firebush by CyclicalCore

Thanks for watching! Hope you enjoyed!
© 2015 - 2024 CyclicalCore
Comments24
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WanderingMogwai's avatar
These are fantastic shots!  This is so great that you can pull all of this together this way.  Do you blog?  If you don't yet this might be something great to start with.  I'm on tumblr but I kind of let it fizzle out  :P