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Sticker of Lysimnia tigerwing
Bug card No. 2705 of 4,939

Lysimnia tigerwing

Mechanitis lysimnia
Eats: Nectar and pollenButterfliesRainforests and jungles6 legs

The lysimnia tigerwing is a butterfly from Central and South America. As its name says, its wings have a stripy pattern like a tiger. It flutters through forests, even high up in the hills.

Lives in
Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Uruguay, in forests
Top speed
about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Butterflies cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Grown-ups drink nectar from flowers. Its caterpillars eat the leaves of nightshade plants.
For real!Photo of Lysimnia tigerwing
Picture by alessandradalia. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its caterpillars live together in groups and munch nightshade leaves side by side.

2

The caterpillars are pale green with yellow streaks.

3

It lives in forests up to 1500 metres above the sea.

4

There are 13 slightly different kinds of it in different countries, from Mexico all the way to Uruguay.

you asked

Most asked questions about Lysimnia tigerwing

?Where does the lysimnia tigerwing live?

In Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Uruguay.

?What does the lysimnia tigerwing eat?

The butterfly drinks flower nectar, and its caterpillars eat nightshade leaves.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Mechanitis lysimnia
Named by
Fabricius, 1793
Group
Butterflies
Family
Nymphalidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
Lives on
North America, South America
Also known as
Confused tigerwing, Sweet-oil tiger

Where the facts come from

  1. Mechanitis lysimnia (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by alessandradalia. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this 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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More from the same group: Butterflies

Also at home here: Rainforests and jungles

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