<div dir="ltr"><div>Hi Chris, <br><br></div>Check out the Butterflies of America website, you can trust their name assignment for pictures of Heliconius specimens and it is an excellent resource<br><a href="http://butterfliesofamerica.com/list.htm#NYMPHALIDAE">http://butterfliesofamerica.com/list.htm#NYMPHALIDAE</a><br>
<div><div><br></div><div>Basal hindwing red spots on the ventral side are a variable character so I would not use it for identification. Pupae are easy to ID: erato has long antennae while melpomene and cydno have short antennae at the pupal stage (antennal "cases", if you wish). Adult melpomene and erato butterflies are co-mimics wherever they occur, and each display about 20 geographic morphs cross the Neotropics, so you have to learn differences "pattern by pattern".<br>
</div><div><br></div><div>IDing colombian Venus-like melpomene vs erato should be quite easy. The red forewing bar of Heliconius erato makes a sharp boundary with black, the contours are clean, especially on the dorsal side. While melpomene has a fuzzy, leaky red bar.<br>
<br></div><div>Cydno and melpomene are sister species that can co-hybridize so it is very frequent to have melpomene looking butterflies in melpomene stocks that originate from butterfly farms. <br><br><br></div><div>I hope it helps!<br>
<br><br>Arnaud Martin<br><a href="http://www.heliconius.org/author/arnaud-martin/">http://www.heliconius.org/author/arnaud-martin/</a><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote">
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Message: 1<br>
Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 10:39:45 -0700 (PDT)<br>
From: chris kline <<a href="mailto:kline_at_pine@yahoo.com">kline_at_pine@yahoo.com</a>><br>
Subject: [Leps-l] Heliconius expert?<br>
To: Butterfly_and_Moth listserve <<a href="mailto:LEPS-L@LISTS.YALE.EDU">LEPS-L@LISTS.YALE.EDU</a>>,<br>
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I am looking for someone who knows Heliconius, specifically H. erato, H. melpomene, and H. cydno. ?<br>
For example, I have learned that one way to tell erato from melpomene is by the number of red dots at the base of the ventral side of the hindwing. ?Today I got photos of a bug that looks like H. erato venus to me but it has too few dots at the base of the wing. ?Plus, the other day I had what looked like an erato/melpomene crawl out of a cydno chrysalis, or at least that is how the chrysalis was labeled. ?Hoping someone can help me make sense of these bugs! ?Or perhaps you know of a good reference that I can consult. ?Having been looking on the Tree of Life website, but it has some limitations.<br>
BTW, I am the bfly specialist at Franklin Park Conservatory. ?That may help some who are scratching their heads wondering why I am watching Heliconius in Ohio! :)<br>
THX<br>
chris<br>
?<br>
Chris Kline<br>
Sugar Grove, OhioTo learn more about my Tony Spencer Mystery Series and my Butterfly books visit: <a href="http://beeryridge.yolasite.com" target="_blank">http://beeryridge.yolasite.com</a>??<br>
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