Spend a moment in our Butterfly Rainforest with Ryan talking about the Sapho longwing butterfly, Heliconius sapho, found from Mexico to Central America. Because of the iridescent blue of its upper wings, it’s also called the Sapphire longwing.
Sapho longwing butterflies are related to our Florida native Zebra longwings!
Transcript
Hello, I’m Ryan and welcome back to the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Today’s butterfly will be the Sapho longwing from Central America. It is closely related to the Zebra longwing here in Florida. And hopefully you’ll be able to see the colors here.
It’s called the Sapho longwing partially because the scientific name is Heliconius sapho. But it gets that name for the lovely iridescent sapphire blue on the inside of its wings. And it is iridescence so the angle at which you look at it — will allow the color to appear and disappear. And because of that name it’s also sometimes referred to as the Sapphire longwing.
Like other longwings he can potentially live much longer than the average lifespan of a butterfly, which is about two and half weeks or so. But longwing butterflies like this can live potentially six or seven months if they’re able to continuously ingest pollen along with nectar. Because pollen is rich in protein. Where most butterflies just feed on flower nectar or juices from rotting material, that doesn’t quite give them as much nutrients as the more balanced diet with the pollen that longwings are able to achieve. Now, long story short, eat a more balanced diet.
I hope you’ve all enjoyed and remain healthy and safe, and have a great rest of the day. Thank you.
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Support the ExhibitVideo by Ryan Fessenden; Produced by Radha Krueger