Page 223 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Nymphalidae
DISTRIBUTION United States (Florida, Texas), Mexico, the Caribbean, Ecuador,
Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia

HABITAT Forest and woodland clearings and paths, and nearby elds
HOST PLANTS Passion vine (Passi ora spp.)
NOTE Long-spined, horned, multicolored caterpillar that can defoliate
passion vines
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but common

ADULT WINGSPAN
3⅛–3½ in (80–90 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1 ⁄ –1¾ in (40–45 mm)
DRYAS IULIA
JULIA BUTTERFLY 221

(FABRICIUS, 1775)

Julia Butter y caterpillars hatch from eggs that are intially bu
yellow when laid singly on the tendrils of passion vines, but
become mottled just before the larvae emerge. The caterpillars,
which develop through ve instars, consume host plant leaves

and utilize withered sections of leaves as resting perches. The
larvae are unpalatable to birds and lizards because they contain
varying amounts of cyanogenic glycosides, sequestered from the
passion vine host plants. They are also protected by their many
long spines and so feed openly.

Adult males congregate, sometimes in hundreds or thousands, The Julia Butter y caterpillar is blackish with

on wet mud or sand, feeding on dissolved minerals; in Peru, variable amounts of white or cream, transverse
striping dorsally, and usually with a row of white
males have also been observed imbibing the tears of turtles and spots along the lower body. The spines are very
alligators. It appears that a constant evolutionary war is being long and black. The head is orange brown with
black markings.
waged between the Julia Butter y and passion vines. Some vines

produce temporary stipules that attract egg-laying but then drop
to the ground, exposing eggs to predation by ants. The life cycle
from egg to adult takes about one month.

Actual size