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COPYRIGHT 2005 Natural History Magazine, Inc.
I garden for butterflies. My Eden in central Louisiana sprawls in wild profusion across my front yard to the sidewalk, giving me and passersby an ever-changing tableau of color and activity.
In the late 1990s the garden became a staging area for observing the zebra longwing (Heliconius charithonia), a medium-size butterfly common throughout most of Florida and southern Texas, though only occasionally encountered in Louisiana. The "zebra" gets its name from its dark, elongated wings, accented with vibrant yellowish stripes. But the insect is also known for several specialized traits, including a taste for protein-rich pollen, an exceptionally long life, span, and...
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