Heliconius eratosignis

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Heliconius eratosignis
Figure 2 eratosignis.png
Dorsal and ventral view
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Heliconius
Species:
H. eratosignis
Binomial name
Heliconius eratosignis
(Joicey & Talbot, 1925)
Synonyms
  • Heliconius demeter eratosignis (Joicey & Talbot, 1925)
  • Eueides eratosignis Joicey & Talbot, 1925

Heliconius eratosignis, the eratosignis longwing, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It was described by James John Joicey and George Talbot in 1925.[1] It is found in the south-western Amazon basin, from Brazil to Peru and Bolivia.[2] The habitat consists of sandy rainforests.

The larvae are gregarious and feed on species in the Passiflora subgenera Astrophea and Mitostemma. Full-grown larvae have a yellow body with black bands and a black head.[2] They reach a length of about 20 mm.

Adult H. eratosignis are distinguished morphologically from their sister species Heliconius demeter because they lack a yellow streak on the base of the forewing costa underside;[2] in contrast, H. eratosignis has a solid orange basal costal margin on the underside of the forewing. Keith S. Brown and Woodruff W. Benson in 1975 argued the two forms were the same species, but recorded both H. eratosignis gregarious and H. demeter solitary larvae in their paper.[3] The Tree of Life Web Project has yet to recognize H. eratosignis as a separate species, but shows an image of a male Heliconius eratosignis from Peru under the description of H. demeter.[4]

Etymology[]

The species is presumably named because it is difficult to distinguish from Heliconius erato (as well as from its sister species Heliconius demeter).

Subspecies[]

  • H. e. eratosignis (Joicey & Talbot, 1925) (Eueides) (Brazil (MT))
  • H. e. tambopata Lamas, 1985 (Peru)
  • H. e. ucayalensis H. Holzinger & R. Holzinger, 1975 (Peru)
  • H. e. ulysses K. S. Brown & Benson, 1975 (Bolivia)

References[]

  1. ^ Joicey, J. J. & Talbot, G. (1925). "Notes on some Lepidoptera with descriptions of new forms". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (9) 16: 633-653.
  2. ^ a b c Rosser, Neil; Freitas, André V. L.; Huertas, Blanca; Joron, Mathieu; Lamas, Gerardo; Mérot, Claire; Simpson, Fraser; Willmott, Keith R.; Mallet, James; Dasmahapatra, Kanchon K.; et al. (2019). "Cryptic speciation associated with geographic and ecological divergence in two Amazonian Heliconius butterflies". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 186 (1): 233–249. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly046.
  3. ^ Brown, K. S. & Benson, W. W. (1975). "The heliconians of Brazil (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part VI. Aspects of the biology and ecology of Heliconius demeter with description of four new subspecies". Bulletin of the Allyn Museum. 26: 1-19.
  4. ^ Beltrán, Margarita (2010). "Heliconius demeter". Tree of Life Web Project.


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