Communal-roosting

Guides

• Heliconius charithonia

  zebra longwing, zebra heliconian

  Heliconius charithonia is a medium-sized butterfly with striking black and white longitudinal wing stripes. Adults are notable among butterflies for feeding on both pollen and nectar, enabling synthesis of cyanogenic glycosides that render them unpalatable to predators. The species exhibits communal roosting behavior and specialized pupal mating. Larvae feed exclusively on passionflower vines (Passiflora spp.), with documented performance differences across host species.

  pollen-feedingaposematic-colorationpupal-matingcommunal-roostingPassiflora-specialistlong-lived-butterflydevelopmental-plasticitycyanogenic-glycosidesFlorida-state-butterflytrap-lining-behavior

• Sphex lucae

  katydid hunter

  Sphex lucae is a solitary thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae, native to western North America. This species exhibits pronounced sexual dimorphism: females have a black body with red abdomen and yellowish to violaceous wings, while males are entirely black with violaceous wings. Females are fossorial hunters that excavate subterranean burrows and provision them with paralyzed katydids as food for their larvae. Males form communal sleeping clusters in sheltered locations. The species is the sole North American representative of the subgenus Fernaldina, named for entomologist Henry Torsey Fernald.

  solitary-waspdigger-waspkatydid-huntersexual-dimorphismcommunal-roostingsubterranean-nester