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As every year, on July 1st, we opened the tropical butterfly exhibit "Walk with Butterflies". It is the only exhibit in Croatia where visitors can observe tropical butterflies up close. At the same time, a new, spacious puparium for butterfly pupae was installed in the tropical rainforest exhibit in the San Giovanni battery.
Butterflies go through the so-called complete metamorphosis, which includes four developmental stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa and adult butterfly. A characteristic of complete metamorphosis is that the larva and adult differ significantly in appearance, lifestyle and diet. Visitors have the opportunity to observe two of the four stages of the butterfly life cycle; pupae in the puparium and adults in the fort Verudela burrow. Two particularly attractive species are the blue Morpho helenor and the large Caligo memnon. Another interesting novelty this year is the introduction of butterflies from the genus Heliconius. These tropical butterflies inhabit the regions of Central, South and part of North America, and are known for the extraordinary variety of colors and patterns on their wings.
Butterflies of the genus Heliconius are often called Passiflora butterflies because their larvae, or caterpillars, feed exclusively on the leaves of plants of the genus Passiflora. To defend themselves from caterpillars, the passionflower produces toxic chemical compounds. However, the caterpillars of the Heliconius butterfly genus have evolved the ability to feed on these plants without any harmful consequences. Moreover, they store the toxic compounds in their bodies, which makes the adult butterflies unpalatable and repulsive to potential predators. Although the tropical butterfly exhibit is currently open only during the summer, until September 1, in the future some species of butterflies will also be able to be viewed in their winter habitat.
