Butterflies in Reserve Playa Tortuga

Caligos

As one of the activities today, we went to the butterfly garden. We cleaned the cages of the larvae, changed the plants that they eat, counted the larvae to make sure they were safe, and learned about the butterflies, their eggs, and their babies.

Sara, a worker at RPT, told us about the three types of butterflies in their butterfly garden: Morpho, Caligo, and Siproeta.

Morphos are blue, and their eggs are big. Their pupae are green, and the caterpillars have yellow spots.

Caligos have patterns of an eye on each wing. Their pupae and larvae look like dry leaves. Their eggs are white and small.

Siproetas

Siproetas have orange and white wings. The larvae are black with orange spots. Their eggs are really small and look like watermelons. Their pupae are light green and also have orange spots.

We petted the larvae, and they were soft. But the babies were delicate, so we used a paintbrush to move them while cleaning the cages and changing the leaves. We also gave the butterflies some fruit because they haven't planted enough flowers for them yet.

Every afternoon, the volunteers pick up the eggs. The eggs are very small and hard to find. Some of them are behind the leaves or between the leaves.

I really enjoyed taking care of the butterflies and larvae.

~ Yumi ~

Siproetas eggs