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Sticker of Postman butterfly
Bug card No. 1079 of 1,500

Postman butterfly

Heliconius melpomene
Eats: Nectar and pollenButterfliesRainforests and jungles6 legs

The postman butterfly is black with bright red or yellow bands on its long wings. Those bright colours are a warning: it is poisonous, so birds learn to leave it alone. It is also one of the few butterflies that eats pollen.

Lives in
Central and South America, at forest edges and near rivers
Top speed
about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to touch, but it would make a bird sick if eaten. Just watch it fly.
What does it eat?
It drinks nectar and also eats pollen, which makes it stronger and its colours brighter. Its caterpillars eat only passion flower leaves.
For real!Photo of Postman butterfly
Picture by Ltshears. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its caterpillars take the poison from passion flower leaves and keep it in their bodies to protect themselves.

2

It looks almost the same as another butterfly, the red postman. Both are poisonous, so birds learn one lesson for two butterflies.

3

It can see ultraviolet light, which helps it spot tiny differences in other butterflies' wings.

4

Pollen sticks to its long tongue as it feeds, so it helps flowers make seeds.

5

In different places it has different wing patterns, so scientists love to study it.

you asked

Most asked questions about Postman butterfly

?Is the postman butterfly poisonous?

Yes. It tastes bad and is poisonous to birds, and its bright colours warn them.

?What does the postman butterfly eat?

Grown-ups drink nectar and eat pollen. The caterpillars eat passion flower leaves.

?Where does the postman butterfly live?

In Central and South America, especially on the slopes of the Andes mountains.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Heliconius melpomene
Named by
Linnaeus, 1758
Group
Butterflies
Family
Nymphalidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
Lives on
North America, South America
Also known as
Common postman, Postman

Where the facts come from

  1. Heliconius melpomene (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Ltshears. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

More from the same group: Butterflies

Also at home here: Rainforests and jungles