The most striking colors, endless combinations and wing patters of the butterflies that inhabit Xcaret Park help identify the various friendly species that surround the visitors of the Xcaret Butterfly Pavilion.  Here you will find a guide to five exotic butterfly species that inhabit the Xcaret Butterfly Pavilion.

1. Blue Morpho Butterfly (Morpho helenor). This bright colored butterfly has morpho wings which mean they appear to be double colored. The vivid blue color is a result of the microscopic scales on the back of the wings which reflect light and appear a brilliant blue tone, while the underside is dull brown color. It´s native of Mexico and is considered to be one of the biggest butterflies with wings from 5 to 8 inches in width. They live up to 115 days, and are severely threatened by deforestation.

2. Owl Butterfly (Caligo memnon). This impressive butterfly specie native of the Yucatan Peninsula is named after the huge fake eyespots, which resemble owl´s eyes and the rest of the wings also have wavy lines that mimic feathers. The Owl Butterfly´s eyespots are believed to serve as a defense against bird attack which butterflies are vulnerable to. Their superb camouflage abilities make them hard to spot when resting on tree trunks. They are quite large and fly very few meters at a time.

3. Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilionidae). Another exotic butterfly specie you will encounter at Xcaret Park. This black and yellow looking butterfly has a short adult lifespan of one month. Its name refers to the extensions on the hind-wings which look rather like a swallow’s tail. These ‘tails’ and false ‘eyes’ on the hind-wing mimic the head and antennae (feelers) of the butterfly. This confuses birds as to the true head of their prey and gives the swallowtail a better chance of escaping.

4. Zebra Longwing Butterfly (Heliconius charitonius). The zebra longwing butterfly has long, narrow wings that are black with white zebra-like stripes. The caterpillars eat the leaves of passion flowers, which contains a toxin that gives the zebra longwing an unpleasant taste and makes it poisonous to predators. At night, large groups of longwing butterflies will sleep together on tree limbs and will return to the same place night after night.

5. Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus). One of the most famous butterfly species in the world by its migratory routes. The bright red-orange wings of the Monarch butterfly express warning to the animals that surround it, as they are poisonous specie. The monarch gets its poison when it is a caterpillar, from eating the poisonous milkweed plant. Monarchs live up to 8-9 months, and migrate over 2,000 miles mostly from Canada and USA to Mexico.