[Leps-l] Heliconius expert?

[Arnaud Martin]

Hi Chris,

Check out the Butterflies of America website, you can trust their name
assignment for pictures of Heliconius specimens and it is an excellent
resource
http://butterfliesofamerica.com/list.htm#NYMPHALIDAE

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".

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.

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.


I hope it helps!


Arnaud Martin
http://www.heliconius.org/author/arnaud-martin/



Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 10:39:45 -0700 (PDT)
> From: chris kline <kline_at_pine at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Leps-l] Heliconius expert?
> To: Butterfly_and_Moth listserve <LEPS-L at LISTS.YALE.EDU>,
>         leps-l at mailman.yale.edu
> Message-ID:
>         <1370108385.22721.YahooMailClassic at web160505.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
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>
> I am looking for someone who knows Heliconius, specifically H. erato, H.
> melpomene, and H. cydno. ?
> 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.
> 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! :)
> THX
> chris
> ?
> Chris Kline
> Sugar Grove, OhioTo learn more about my Tony Spencer Mystery Series and my
> Butterfly books visit: http://beeryridge.yolasite.com??
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