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Heliconius sp.
This is either Heliconius erato or Heliconius melpomene which mimics all color forms of H. erato. The Postman's forewings are black with a red band; hindwings are black with a pale yellow stripe. Males sit on the female chrysalis a day before emergence, and mating occurs the next morning before the female has completely emerged. All life stages of these butterflies are supposed to be unpalatable to vertebrates and they advertise this unpalatability with their red & black warning coloration. It is also thought that other "tastier" Heliconius species may mimic these butterflies as a protective defense against predators.
Range: Mexico - northern South America. Sunlit forest edges. Host Plants: Passionflower (Passiflora species).
Spotted on Dec 27, 2011
Submitted on Jan 30, 2012
4 Comments
beautiful! nice shot
Freshly captured Melpomene smells of fried-rice and Erato from Wytch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana). No joke! I didn't proof this myself! And obviously Melpomene is the unpalatable/poisenous one (for birds), not Erato.
H. melpomene was my first guess bayucca, but it is impossible to know since melpomene mimics erato and the distinguishing differences are found on the underside of the wing, which sadly I have no photos of (these butterflies were nearly impossible to capture, as they rarely landed - this one was 3 meters up a tree!)
So it is either H. melpomene or H. erato - I should have clarified this in my earlier description :)
Heliconius melpomene?