[LEPS-L:7984] Re: Long-lived butterflies?

Anne Kilmer viceroy at gate.net
Sun Nov 26 14:58:44 EST 2000


The zebra long-wing, Heliconius charitonius, lives for as long as a year
... the hard way; no hibernation. It manages by feeding on pollen, a
high-protein diet which is apparently very sustaining. 
You will find that there are quite a few arctic species that take a
couple of years to get trhough their lifespan, but spending the winters
in the deep freeze does stop time from ticking along. 
Quite a few butterflies overwinter as adults. 
Cheers
Anne Kilmer
South Florida

Woody Woods wrote:
> 
> Do any of you know of butterfly species with exceptionally long adult
> lifespans, such as the Mourning Cloak? Or, for that matter, even of univoltine
> or long-lived butterfly species that spend most of their lives in a pre-adult stage?
> 
> I am trying to identify such species for comparative research purposes and
> suspect that there may be a fund of unpublished firsthand or even anecdotal
> information out there!
> 
> Many thanks,
> 
> Woody Woods
> --
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> Department of Biology
> University of Massachusetts Boston
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