Postman

Description:

I tried to get a photo with open wings. It had some bright very red on the upper wing. The Postman Butterfly, Common Postman, or simply Postman (Heliconius melpomene) is one of the heliconiine butterflies found from Mexico to northern South America. Several species in the genus have very similar markings and are difficult to distinguish. The Postman butterfly has large long wings with an orange stripe down each forewing. It is poisonous and has red patterns on its wings. There are many forms of this butterfly. The geographical variation in patterns has been studied using crossing experiments and it has been found that the patterns are associated with a small number of genetic loci.

Habitat:

The distribution of this butterfly is from Central America to Southern Brazil.

Notes:

Spotted in a butterfly garden in S.E. France, on the French/Spanish border. Many of the butterflies in this butterfly garden had tattered wings. I wondered if there was too much vegetation in a confined space. They were in a large plastic growing tube with many plants.