Orange Julia Butterfly

The Orange Julia butterfly is bright and cheerful and is among many other beautiful long wing butterflies. My experience with them has been from a butterfly conservatory, but I enjoy learning about them. They are naturally found in Mexico, South America, and in some of the very southern United States. You may see one very rarely in Brownsville Texas or in Florida.

The bright orange color seems to exude light from it, and the picture with the sun coming through the wings gives a feel for how beautiful but fragile these creatures are. The Orange Julia comes from the Dryus Genus, and goes by Dryas Julia, as well as Julia Heliconian. In some areas, you may hear them referred to as the Flambeau, and this is likely because its wings are a flaming orange color.

The wingspan of the Orange Julia is about three to three and a half inches across. The shape is lovely. They are mostly orange, with a bit of brown pattern along the bottom of the wings. Their main characteristics that help to identify are the color and shape.

The adult Orange Julia's feed on nectar from flowers. They prefer the red or blue flowers. The males can often be seen around mud.

If you are able to see one close up, you will notice a light black veining in the bright orange colors on the wings.  On the males, you can sometimes see a dark spot on the forewing.  For females, you can see a black band that crosses the forewing.  Both of the sexes have a beautiful fine line along the edges in black.  These have small scallops and bear orange crescent spots.  If you were to see the underside, you would see a much paler color of orange, or even brownish color.  There would be creamy colors or white markings on the fringe of the hindwing. 

They are known for their "dragon fly" type of flying. The adults are present all year long, at lower elevations. Orange Julia's prefer the outer edges of a subtropical woodland. They like open edges, and can be found in the Florida Everglades even. Where they live, they are considered fairly common, and I would love to see one in person one day.

The male Dryas Julia may spend an entire day looking for a female one. When he finds her, he fans her so that the scent on his scales can be detected by her. If she likes the male, she gives off her own scent , which is a sign of acceptance. Then she does a vibrating movement, and the two eventually mate together.

After emerging from the eggs, the larvae eat Passiflora, or pasionflower.  They have reddish brown with black hairs on a spiny body. 

This butterfly also does its share of mimicking.  Orange Julia does mimic the Heliconians in form.  The wings are more narrow, slender and beautiful.  There is a great number of species, and two of these are found in the hotter parts of the Gulf States.