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Also known as a Flying Handerchief
The male mocker swallowtail is monomorphic, meaning it has only one distinct look, while the female is polymorphic and can assume up to 13 different looks. The butterflies that the female mimics do not have tails, and are unpalatable or poisonous to birds.
This mimicry is not just a simple change of colour and pattern, but the females also lose their characteristic swallow tails and even fly slowly like Monarch butterflies.
This unique combination of shape-shifting makes the mimicry more convincing for predatory birds and once they learn to avoid one warning pattern, they will then avoid similar looking butterflies.
Avg. Wingspan: 10 - 12 cm / 3.9 - 4.7 "
Diet: caterpillars feed on calodendron, clausena, citrus, fagara, and plants in the Rutaceae family.
*Female Mockers are found in thirteen different color combinations (morphs).
* The male of this species has a tail, while the female is tailless !!
Diet: adults eat nectar from a variety of plants including clover, milkweed, thistles, and phlox.
Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta, Order: Lepidoptera
*British entomologist E.B. Poulton described it as “the most interesting butterfly in the world."
The single biggest threat to butterfly survival is habitat destruction!!
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