It is always a thrill to spot the zebra longwing butterfly, especially since Hurricane Ian impacted our area in Sept. 2022. That devastating hurricane did quite a number on the state butterfly.
I have spotted the zebra longwing a few times in my garden in the past few years. Today, it caught my eye while in my mom’s garden, as she has quite a few mature fire bush planted, one of their favorite nectar plants.
There’s hope that this butterfly will once again find the garden, it’s host plant, corkystem passionvine, and start its lifecycle in our garden again.
It’s truly exciting to see more of the zebra longwings, the Floridastate butterfly! This one was enjoying some nectar from a firebush plant at my mom’s house, a first for her garden since the hurricane.
Before Hurricane Ian, we had the state butterfly, zebra longwing, visit our garden on a daily basis, both for the nectar and laying eggs on its host plant.
Unfortunately, the hurricane was not kind to this species, as it left devastation many of us have never seen before, in its wake. Although we are still patiently waiting for them to return to our garden, groups around the area are having great success in bringing this beauty back to the Lee County area. One of which is the Tom Allen Memorial Butterfly House-Rotary Park.
We had smiles plastered to our faces as we watched them flutter around us, laying eggs, sipping nectar, and on occasion staying still long enough for us to admire their beauty.
Hurricane Ian, which made landfall on Sept. 28, 2022, eliminated them from our area. Through conversations with other butterfly enthusiasts, they too have not seen them flying around. As of March 1, 2023, the Tom Allen Memorial Butterfly House in Cape Coal, and Butterfly Estates, in Fort Myers, are trying to reestablish the state butterfly in Southwest Florida.
These butterflies gather in roosts at night before returning to the same place daily, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The oldest of the zebra longwing chooses the best location for the night.
This species of butterfly can live up to several months, as they feed on both the nectar and pollen of flowers. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the zebra longwing’s saliva enables them to dissolve the pollen taken in from the flowers for its nutrients, which are rich in proteins. Because of these proteins it allows the butterfly to produce eggs for many months. The U.S. Forest Service stated that they are intelligent insects and can remember where they are getting their food sources, therefore returning to the same plant they fed on before.
A gem of a place closed its doors Friday, July 28 with a great deal of sadness. Butterfly Estates, located in Downtown Fort Myers, became a destination for my daughter and I, as well as our good friend, and my mom. The first time I visited this butterfly conservatory, which is full of Florida native butterfly species, was in 2015 while I was pregnant with my daughter. The story fell into my lap for the publication I still write for today. I went and took photographs, and well, was in awe of the beauty fluttering about.
Before our daughter was born, her momma was already hooked on butterflies. Before my daughter was born the significance of the butterfly was born, the wonderful meaning they represent was given to us. Unfortunately that meaning drove home a little more after my grandfather, the man who constantly reminded all of us of the importance of family, passed away.
“Butterflies appear when angels are near.” I believe in this with all of my heart.
The beautiful journey since then was creating a butterfly garden with my daughter that continues to grow in size and species we attract. My favorite part is knowing I am giving my daughter an education about nature, which she truly enjoys.
After I read “It is with great sadness that we close our doors tomorrow 7/28/23 at 2pm. We want to thank our customers for their support over the years. Butterflies & Staff will miss you.” I knew my daughter and I had to make one last final trip to the Butterfly Estates and witness the last release, walk the conservatory one last time. It was an emotional journey through the conservatory. Not only did I capture many moments with my camera, I also held many in my heart as we took one last stroll around the grounds.
The Butterfly Estates volunteers always taught us a great deal of information when we went for a visit. We took home many eggs that we raised in our garden, as well as new plants that attracted new species to the garden.
Every time we visit it seems a new butterfly captures our attention. This time it was the white peacock. It was everywhere. The best part is we took home five caterpillars and a chrysalis, as they have to rehome all the caterpillars and butterflies inside the magnificent enclosure. So a piece of Butterfly Estates is now in our butterfly house waiting to go through its lifecycle.
“Today our regular butterfly release takes place at 10:30 am. Once we close the butterflies inside will be caught and re-homed. This will take awhile. The outpouring from the community has been overwhelming. THANK YOU,” another post from Butterfly Estates on their Facebook page.
It was such a sight to see today. So many zebra longwing butterflies being raised and released at Rotary Park here in Cape Coral. They have yet to make it to my garden, something I truly miss since Hurricane Ian impacted our city last September.
In May and June of this year, I wrote an article for a publication I contribute articles to, North Fort Myers Living, and it was all about zebra longwing butterflies. It was so good to hear that two organizations around town are helping to repopulate this butterfly.
Here’s a blurp:
Hurricane Ian created a tale of two butterflies – the monarch butterfly thriving, while the zebra longwing butterfly, the state butterfly, disappearing.
“After the hurricane we have not seen the zebra longwing anywhere near us,” The Butterfly Estates curator Sherri Williams said. “I have lots of butterfly enthusiasts (friends) that have not seen them. A friend of mine from Miami sent a few caterpillars to get them established here.”
At the beginning of May the excitement has grown, as she said they have probably 45 zebra longwing butterflies flying inside the butterfly house.
“The females will lay like 400 eggs. I will have eggs to share, always for a donation. The donation helps us go buy plants to feed the ones we keep,” she said of the caterpillars eating corkystem passionvine. “I am really excited about the zebras. I am getting quite a few eggs now.”
Recovery efforts are also underway in Cape Coral.
“They were wiped out in the hurricane,” Tom Allen Memorial Butterfly House curator Cheryl Anderson said, adding that their host plant, the passionvine, was also wiped out. “Since Hurricane Ian, we have seen one zebra longwing at the butterfly gardens.”
“There are zebras out there, caterpillars out there. We need concentrated effort and we need the plants. The health, wealth and volume of a butterfly depends on the wealth and health of the host plant,” she said.
Today while we visited The Tom All Memorial Butterfly House at Rotary Park Cheryl told us they have released close to 50 zebra longwings. We saw them fluttering all around the garden, with many still in their butterfly house. Cheryl showed my daughter quite a few zebra longwing caterpillars that they were also raising inside.
She told us, although the hope was to repopulate areas of Cape Coral, the zebra longwings seem to be hanging around Rotary Park as there is an abundance of host plants, with one of their favorites, the firebush planted on the grounds.
