Tuesday, February 24
Victoria Butterfly Gardens
The Butterflies
As we entered the gardens, we noticed butterflies that had recently emerged, and were learning to fly – some had landed on the floor during their first flight.
There were hundreds of chrysalis in the butterfly nursery.
Some butterflies had recently emerged and were drying their wings.
There were several butterflies that I could not identify.
This one looked kind of tattered.
The White Tree Nymph (also known as the Paper Kite, Tree Nymph or Large Tree Nymph) prefers coastal mangrove swamps and are common to Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Taiwan. This large beautiful white and black butterfly has a slow gliding flight.
An Atlas Moth cocoon.
We did not see a moth – and I am sure we would have noticed one – as they are very large.
 The Atlas Moth can be found throughout India, Sri Lanka, China, Malaysia and Indonesia. They can stay in their cocoon for up to five years and yet when they emerge live only three to five days. It is the worlds largest moth in overall size with a wingspan of 6 1/4 – 12 inches. |
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The Golden Helicon can be found throughout Central and tropical South America.
They have a wingspan of 3 1⁄2 to 4 inches and prefer to live in a tropical environment.
Passion vines are their host plants. By eating the leaves of this plant, the butterfly becomes poisonous to birds, not enough to kill them but enough to prevent this butterfly from being bothered again.
The Zebra has a wingspan of 2 3/4 – 4 inches. Adults roost communally in groups of 25-30 individuals. They are common to South America north through Central America, West Indies, and Mexico to South Texas and peninsular Florida.
The Giant Owl Butterfly larvae are considered economically important pests because of the tremendous amount of foliage they consume. An individual larva can easily eat an entire banana leaf measuring more than 3 feet in length and one foot in width. The adults feed on rotting fruit.
They could be found every place in the gardens where there was a feeder with rotting fruit.
I could not identify these pretty butterflies.
Do you notice something unusual on this tattered butterfly?
The inside of the wing is blue.
I caught this picture and the next, just as the butterfly opened its wings.
A worker called me over to this leaf to see the butterfly. She said it is rare to find them with their wings open wide for any length of time.
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