The content of the article
From early childhood we know about the existence of owls. However, few people suspect that the fauna of our planet has a butterfly called this bird. What made people give the insect such a name? What are the features of his life? We will talk about this in our article.
Why is it called that?
First, we turn to the explanation of the unusual name for the species of Lepidoptera. Inhabitants of various rainforest creatures, and it is precisely there that the heroes of the story live, are often forced to seek protection from enemy attacks. One of the most popular methods among insects is disguise. Thus, butterfly wings are often covered with patterns that resemble the appearance of predatory animals, such as birds or reptiles. Owl butterfly, belonging to the genus Kaligo, began to be called so because of its color, resembling this bird of prey. Large circles on the inside of the wings are similar to the eyes of an owl, which allows the insect to mimic the appearance of the front of the bird. This misleads the natural enemies of the butterfly, preparing to attack it, because they are not presented with a fragile insect, but a dangerous predatory beast.
What does a butterfly look like?
The terrifying color of the back side of the wings, resembling the eyes of an owl, is not the only remarkable thing about the butterfly. By the way, many also compare it with patterns that adorn snake skin. The outer part of the wings is recognized by many as very pretty. Its color is an overflow of various shades of blue and beige colors, as if flowing one into another.
Original features have the appearance of a caterpillar. Her body is painted in light green, close to the shades of lettuce, and is also decorated with bluish stripes. The head of the bright yellow larva is crowned with horns. Such an appearance of a caterpillar is a feat of many to compare it with mythological Chinese dragons. Especially this is prompted by the bifurcation of the end of the tail and its fringing with azure stripes.
How does a butterfly live?
The active period during the day in the insect begins before sunset. However, it does not have an impressive duration: only 20 minutes the butterfly is in a state of highest activity. At this time, she is looking for food. If a find occurs, then, having descended to the ground, it dissolves the proboscis coiled in a spiral and drinks nectar.
The rest of the time, owl butterflies are on trees. With their wings folded, they sit motionless. The camouflage reverse side at this moment is perfectly visible to potential enemies.
Since the main means of protecting the butterfly from enemies is camouflage, then at the time of the attack of birds of prey or reptiles, it instantly makes a 180 degree virtuoso flip in order to show them the "secret weapon" lurking on the back of its wide wings. The effect of applying this effective method is very good, since both birds and snakes make every possible effort to hide from what they see — an image of the appearance of an owl.
The insect feeds mainly on overripe fruits, being both in the natural habitat and in keeping at home. Favorite among these are blackened bananas. Such unpretentiousness of an owl butterfly becomes one of the reasons that attract people to keep it as a pet.
Many attribute the insect to moths. In turn, scientists emphasize that the owl butterfly is twilight. Such a definition of it indicates the presence in the animal of ultrasonic hearing and even voice. The insect can not only catch light crackling, which is difficult for humans to perceive, but also reproduce it! Since bats hunting with echolocation are one of the natural enemies of owl butterflies, fragile creatures need to keep their defenses. Her unique abilities help her in this. Butterflies capture the approach of the animal and send ultrasounds in its direction with an intentionally changed frequency. This distorts the image of the space scanned by the bat, and it loses the ability to accurately catch prey. Using misses of the enemy, butterflies hide from him.
How does a butterfly breed?
In the wake of the long courtship of the male, pairing occurs with the conquered individual of the genus Kaligo on tree branches. After that, the female lays eggs on large leaves. After a week, larvae appear. Usually, not all of the eggs laid produce offspring.
First, the body of the larvae is painted white, along which brown stripes pass. Then molting occurs, after which the caterpillars turn green and acquire horns and spines.
Where does the butterfly live?
Scientists believe that the birthplace of this species of Lepidoptera is the jungle near the Amazon River. Today, the area of distribution of insects is great. The territories inhabited by butterflies include tropical forests in the southern and central parts of America, the forests of Venezuela, known to many Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, cases of human detection of a butterfly of this species in the territory of hot Mexico have been recorded.
Can I keep a butterfly at home?
Nowadays, a butterfly owl can play the role of a pet. The individual is not very shy and has high adaptive rates. You will not have time to notice how she gets used to your presence and sits down in her arms. There is no difficulty in providing her with the necessary food. She gladly enjoys slices of orange or blackened bananas. The insect eats once a day, the duration of food intake varies from 5 to 15 minutes. However, it is important to observe the temperature and humidity conditions necessary for the life of the moth. So, the temperature should not drop to 23 degrees and exceed 28 degrees. Humidity in the room should be maintained within 60-70%. It is excessively important for butterflies, because in other conditions the wings of the insect will dry out and begin to crumble. In order to prevent such an outcome, you can sometimes spray an insect or put a moistened napkin in its aquarium. If you properly care for a butterfly, it can live from two to three months.
Submit