The zebra longwing butterfly left treasures behind on my maypop passion vine this morning. She spent time laying eggs before going to my lantana plant and porterweed for more food.

I find it fascinating that the zebra longwing can live up to several months due to it feeding on both the nectar and pollen in the flowers. If you look closely you can see the pollen on the butterfly’s proboscis. The longwing’s saliva is able to dissolve the pollen taken from the flower for the rich proteins, which enables them produce eggs for several months.

This beauty definitely left behind quite a few eggs.