February Sea Star: Banded Orange Butterfly

The Banded Orange (Dryadula phaetusa) looks very similar to the Julia butterfly (Dryas iulia), but is slightly different.

Instead of mainly orange, like the Julia, this butterfly has dark, horizontal bands of black on the wings, including a thin line of white that is only present on the underwing.

The natural range of this butterfly includes Brazil, Central America, and limited sightings in Florida.

These petite longwing butterflies can be found sunning on plants in our conservatory.