Two different Buckeye Butterflies have been spotted in the garden... the Common Buckeye and the Mangrove Buckeye. The two are quite similar in appearance. They both have two orange bars on their forewings. Both have brown, white, and blue on their wings, and they both have similar looking eyespots. In both species, their eyespots help them survive attacks from predators. Predators think the eyespot is an eye on the head of its prey. If the predator attacks the eyespot, it might chew off part of the butterfly's wing, but the butterfly's vital organs escape damage.

The butterfly on the left above is the Common Buckeye, while the one on the right is the Mangrove Buckeye. Note that the Common Buckeye has a band of white surrounding the large eye spot on each of its forewings. The Mangrove Buckeye lacks this band around its eyespots.

There are other differences between the two species that will be described below.

_____________________________________________________

Common Buckeye

Junonia coenia

The egg of the Common Buckeye is dark green. Each egg is laid singly on the caterpillars' host plants. These plants include pink false foxglove, plantain, toadflax, and twinflower.

The caterpillar is black with white stripes, patches of orange, and branching spines. To date, none of the eggs or the caterpillars have been spotted in the Conservancy gardens.

The Common Buckeye butterfly cannot survive freezing temperatures in any stage, so they must migrate South, or perish. Therefore, many Common Buckeyes that spend their summers in northern states, fly South to overwinter in Gulf Coast states like Florida. These buckeyes prefer to fly in open areas, where they sun themselves. Their wingspan is 1.5-2.7 inches.

 

_____________________________________________________

Mangrove Buckeye

Junonia evarete

The egg of the Mangrove Buckeye is green. Each egg is laid singly on the caterpillars' host plant, the black mangrove.

The caterpillar is black with cream and blue markings and many branching spines. To date, none of the eggs or the caterpillars have been spotted in Conservancy garden #14, the only garden in which we have a black mangrove.

Mangrove Buckeyes live throughout the Florida Keys and along the coastal areas of southern Florida. These buckeyes prefer to fly in open areas near mangroves and salt marshes. Mangrove buckeyes are larger than the Common Buckeyes with a wingspan of 2-2.75 inches.

___________________________________

Links:

Index to Butterfly and Moth Visitors to the Conservancy Ecotone Trail

Index To Photographs of Plants in the Gardens

Plant Lists by Garden

Conservancy of Southwest Florida Ecotone Home Page

Conservancy of Southwest Florida Home Page.

Please report errors to Susan Snyder at susanleachsnyder@gmail.com