Its flight has been described as bat-like and erratic. (Tveten and Tveten, 1996) Key Behaviors flies diurnal Food Habits. Nectar and Host Plants Used by the Zebra Swallowtail The zebra swallowtail rarely strays away from the habitats where various species of pawpaw are found. The zebra longwing, Heliconius charithonia (Linnaeus), was designated the state butterfly of Florida in 1996. Host plants used by the Zebra Swallowtail include ommon Pawpaw and Dwarf Pawpaw.įavorite nectar plants are Milkweed, Cosmos, Sweet William, and Zinnia.Along the banks of the Potomac and other tributaries of the Chesapeake grow small forests of beautiful native pawpaw trees. A denizen of more forested settings, it frequents subtropical hammocks, forest margins, shrubby thickets, and adjacent open areas. It is a regular sight in many butterfly gardens and suburban yards and parks. A walk amongst these winsome understory trees sets one to wondering why their luxuriant green leaves go virtually unmolested by leaf-eating insects and vertebrates during the growing season. Even rapacious white-tailed deer shun these plants. Pawpaw has evolved a clever defense, a noxious group of chemicals called annonaceous acetogenins. Some caterpillars, such as the zebra swallowtail butterfly larvae, are cannibalistic. These bioactive compounds, found in both leaves and bark, likely make them unpalatable to a diverse array of hungry herbivores. In addition to nasty metabolic effects, acetogenins are known to produce a potent emetic response in vertebrates. The Zebra Swallowtail is a species of brightly-colored butterflies that got their name from their zebra-like looks, with alternating patterns of black and white markings on their four wings. Ah, but herbivorous insects often discover ways to deal with defenses thrown at them by plants. In previous episodes we learned how monarch caterpillars turned the tables on milkweeds and used defensive compounds produced by milkweeds for their own defense against predators. A similar story holds for the zebra swallowtail butterfly. Sophisticated chemical analysis revealed that zebra swallowtail caterpillars and adult butterflies contained annonaceous acetogenins similar to those found in pawpaws. Home Species Zebra Swallowtail Zebra Swallowtail Eurytides marcellus View More Photos Butterfly : Wingspan: 2 - 3 inches (6.0 - 8.9 cm). Scientists believe that these compounds originate in the leaves of pawpaw, are stored in the tissues of caterpillars as they eat leaves, and are passed along to the adult butterfly. Eurytides marcellus The zebra swallowtail is a butterfly with thick, black stripes on its white wings. White with black stripes and long, slender tails hindwing bears a bright patch of red above the eyespot on upper surface. It lives in moist, low woodlands where its host plant, the paw paw tree, grows. The Zebra Swallowtail ( Eurytides Marcellus) and the Common Pawpaw ( Asimina triloba) are both evolutionary misfits. Below, there is a bright red stripe through the hindwing. The presence of acetogenins likely helps protect both the beautiful butterflies and their larvae from the beaks and teeth of hungry predators.
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