Southern Pearly Eye

Southern Pearly Eye (Enodia portlandia) butterflies have a gorgeous cryptic coloring that helps them blend with the trunks of trees. These butterflies are found throughout the swampy forests of the southeast United States and they tend to remain in shady, damp places.

The larvae host on bamboo switch cane (Arundinaria tecta) which grows in thick stands called canebrakes which are found in the moist bottomlands of the forest understory. The larvae can hibernate in their caterpillar form to survive periods of cold weather.

Adults feed on sap, rotting fruit, dung and other non-nectar butterfly foods. With a wingspan up to 2 3/4 inches this butterfly is decent sized but still difficult to spot. Next time you find yourself in a swampy forest, keep and eye out for this beauty.

Photo credit: John Long Jr. Perry, FL, Nov 2009