February 2022 Bug Box (Pink-spotted Cattleheart Butterfly)

Did you miss the Parides photinus themed Bug Box? A few more Deluxe boxes are available now, featuring a butterfly ventral view enamel pin, dorsal view enamel pin (standard or LE 15 extra blue morph), a life cycle sticker sheet, an iron-on patch of the adult butterfly, a magnetic fact card, and a cozy caterpillar-inspired scarf.

It takes a lot of work to be this gorgeous! The pink-spotted cattleheart spends its larval stage eating as a full-time job. It only consumes Pelican Flowers (which smell like dirty feet to us), from which it acquires foul-tasting toxins. With their striking white and red spikes, caterpillars warn would-be predators that they aren’t an easy meal - and any bird foolish enough to try is bound to feel sick and sorry.

When it’s time to pupate, the cattleheart ditches its flashy colors and becomes a chrysalis that looks just like a curled, dried leaf. If the ruse succeeds, it emerges as a gorgeous butterfly with shimmering wings of black, blue, and green, dotted with white spots and pink hearts. Its transformation complete, the cattleheart lives on as a beautiful pollinator in the forests of Central America.

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