Julia butterfly
The Julia butterfly is bright orange with a few black marks near its wing tips, like a little flame flying past. Its wings are long and narrow, and it is a fast flier. Birds do not like the taste of it, so its bright colour says: leave me alone.
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Fun facts
It has been seen drinking the tears of caimans and turtles. It flutters at their eyes until tears come out.
Boys are a brighter orange than girls.
It is a favourite in butterfly houses, because it lives a long time and is busy all day.
Girls eat flower pollen to get the goodness they need to make eggs.
In summer a few fly as far north as Nebraska, in the middle of the United States.
Most asked questions about Julia butterfly
?What does the Julia butterfly eat?
It drinks flower nectar. Its caterpillar eats only the leaves of passion vines.
?Is the Julia butterfly poisonous?
It tastes bad to birds, which protects it. It is harmless to people, but do not touch its spiky caterpillar.
?How big is a Julia butterfly?
Its wings are about 8 to 9 centimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dryas iulia
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America
- Also known as
- Julia heliconian, Flame, Flambeau
Where the facts come from
- Dryas iulia (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Diego Delso. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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