Tiger leafwing
The tiger leafwing is a clever dresser. On top, its wings are bright orange and black with yellow bands. But when it folds its wings, the underside looks just like a dead brown leaf, so it can hide in plain sight.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
When its wings are closed, the underside looks like a dead leaf, which helps it hide.
Its bright orange and black top side copies the colours of other butterflies, a trick called mimicry.
Its back wings end in little tails.
The mother lays her eggs on pepper plants. The caterpillars are dark green with reddish spots, and the pupa is pale green.
It likes the tops of forest trees, river banks and forest edges, up to about 1200 metres high.
Most asked questions about Tiger leafwing
?Where does the tiger leafwing live?
In the tropical forests of Mexico, Central America and South America, as far as the Amazon.
?Why is it called a leafwing?
When it closes its wings, the underside looks like a dead leaf.
?What do tiger leafwing caterpillars eat?
Leaves of pepper plants.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Consul fabius
- Named by
- Cramer, 1775
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America
Where the facts come from
- Consul fabius (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 Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, 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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