Julia butterfly or Orange longwinged

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 Julia Butterfly Dryas iulia 

They are also known as orange longwinged due to their wing shape. 

The Julia butterfly belongs to the Nymphalidae family and subfamily Heliconiinae.

They are similar to the Gulf Fritillary and the Zebra longwinged are named the brush footed butterflies due to the first pair of legs are have evolved to be like brushes which they use to sample plants. The female scrapes the leave to taste the chemicals to see which plant is suitable for the caterpillars and to they the eggs. The eggs are elongated and yellow and are laid on the new leaves. 

The way to identify these butterflies are; males are bright orange on the upper-side and the underside. The upper-side of the hindwing has a thin black line around the border. The females are brown with white and black spots but have more black markings. Predators have evolved to avoid the caterpillars and adults due to the chemicals in the passion flowers are not tasteful. As it comes out of the chrysalis the adult is drawn to the nectar. 

The wing span is 8.2 to 9.2 cm. They feed on nectar from a range of plants including Iantana and Shepherds needle. The ideal habitat would be sub tropical openings and fields. 

The males fly around all day looking for fertile and receptive females which they can mate with. 

Butterfliesandmoths.org, (2015). Butterflies and Moths of North America | collecting and sharing data about Lepidoptera. [online] Available at: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Dryas-iulia [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].

Susanleachsnyder.com, (2015). Julia. [online] Available at: http://susanleachsnyder.com/Conservancy%20Butterfly%20Garden/Julia.html [Accessed 4 Apr. 2015].