Heliconius numata

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Superfamilia: Papilionoidea

Familia: Nymphalidae
Subfamilia: Heliconiinae
Tribus: Heliconiini
Genus: Heliconius
Species: Heliconius numata
Subspecies: H. n. arcuella – H. n. aristiona – H. n. aulicus – H. n. aurora – H. n. bicoloratus – H. n. ethra – H. n. euphone – H. n. geminatus – H. n. holzingeri – H. n. ignotus – H. n. illustris – H. n. jiparanaensis – H. n. lenaeus – H. n. lyrcaeus – H. n. mavors – H. n. messene – H. n. mirus – H. n. nubifer – H. n. numata – H. n. peeblesi – H. n. pratti – H. n. robigus – H. n. silvana – H. n. sourensis – H. n. superioris – H. n. talboti – H. n. tarapotensis – H. n. zobrysi
Name

Heliconius numata (Cramer, 1780)
Synonyms

Papilio numata Cramer, 1780
Eueides pione Hübner, 1816; (repl. name)
Heliconius numata var. melanops Weymer, 1894
Heliconius numata var. guiensis Riffarth, 1900
Heliconius numata isabellinus f. intermedia Boullet & Le Cerf, 1909
Heliconius numata f. melanopors Joicey & Kaye, 1917

References

Brown, K.S., 1976: An illustrated key to the Silvaniform Heliconius (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) with description of new subspecies. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 102 (3): 373–484. Full article: [1].
Lamas, G., 2004, Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera; Checklist: Part 4A; Hesperioidea-Papilionoidea.

Heliconius numata, the Numata longwing, is a brush-footed butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae, subfamily Heliconiinae.

Distribution and habitat

This species is native to most of South America, from Venezuela to southern Brazil (Guyana, French Guiana, Surinam, Guatemala, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and Peru). H. numata is a neotropical species, less common in virgin forest than in areas of secondary growth. It occurs at an elevation of 0–1,800 metres (0–5,906 ft) above sea level in tall forests.[1][2]
Subspecies

Subspecies include:[2]

Heliconius numata numata (Surinam, French Guiana, Guyana)
Heliconius numata silvana (Stoll, 1781) (Surinam, Guyana, Venezuela, Guatemala, Brazil: Pará, Amazonas)
Heliconius numata ethra (Hübner, [1831]) (Brazil: Espírito Santo)
Heliconius numata aristiona Hewitson, [1853] (Bolivia, Peru)
Heliconius numata aurora Bates, 1862 (Brazil: Amazonas, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru)
Heliconius numata euphone C. & R. Felder, 1862 (Colombia, Ecuador)
Heliconius numata messene C. & R. Felder, 1862 (Colombia)
Heliconius numata bicoloratus Butler, 1873 (Peru)
Heliconius numata arcuella Druce, 1874 (Peru)
Heliconius numata nubifer Butler, 1875 (Brazil: Amazonas)
Heliconius numata superioris Butler, 1875 (Brazil: Amazonas, Pará, Venezuela)
Heliconius numata robigus Weymer, 1875 (Venezuela)
Heliconius numata aulicus Weymer, 1883 (Venezuela)
Heliconius numata lenaeus Weymer, 1891 (Ecuador)
Heliconius numata lyrcaeus Weymer, 1891 (Peru)
Heliconius numata geminatus Weymer, 1894 (Brazil: Amazonas)
Heliconius numata illustris Weymer, 1894(Peru)
Heliconius numata mavors Weymer, 1894 (Brazil: Amazonas)
Heliconius numata mirus Weymer, 1894 (Bolivia)
Heliconius numata tarapotensis Riffarth, 1901 (Peru)
Heliconius numata zobrysi Fruhstorfer, 1910 (Brazil: Mato Grosso)
Heliconius numata ignotus Joicey & Kaye, 1917 (Peru)
Heliconius numata talboti Joicey & Kaye, 1917 (Peru)
Heliconius numata pratti Joicey & Kaye, 1917 (Peru)
Heliconius numata peeblesi Joicey & Talbot, 1925 (Venezuela)
Heliconius numata jiparanaensis Neustetter, 1931 (Brazil: Rondônia)
Heliconius numata holzingeri Fernández & Brown, 1976 (Venezuela)
Heliconius numata sourensis Brown, 1976 (Brazil: Pará)

Description

Heliconius numata has a wingspan of 78 millimetres (3.1 in). These very large butterflies have long and rounded wings of brown and orange color, with very variable markings due to its capacity of mimicry with several species. The caterpillar is white with black spots and black thorns.
Biology

H. numata is known for its mimicry of Melinaea butterflies.[3] Both H. numata and the species of Melinaea it resembles are unpalatable to predators, making this a case of Müllerian mimicry, a mutualistic reinforcement of the same negative signal.[4]

Both males and females are attracted to red or orange flowers, or indeed to pieces of cloth colored red or orange. Eggs typically are found on low-growing vines of Passiflora. Caterpillars mainly feed on plants from the subgenera Granadilla, Astrophea and Distephana (Passifloraceae) and from the genera Tetrastyli and Dilkea.[1][5]

Heliconius numata silvaniformis Joicey & Kaye, 1917

Bibliography

Brown K. S. 1981 The Biology of Heliconius and Related Genera. Annual Review of Entomology 26, 427-456.
Cramer, Pieter [1721_1776] 1780. De uitlandische Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen Asia, Africa en America. Papillons exotiques des trois parties du monde l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amérique. Amsteldam, S. J. Baalde; Utrecht, Barthelemy Wild and J. Van Schoonho-ven & Comp.

References

"Heliconius numata (Cramer 1780)". Tree of Life. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
Funet - Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms
Wade, Nicholas (15 August 2011). "A Supergene Paints Wings for Surviving Biological War". NY Times. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
"Tiger-patterned H. numata and Melinaea mimicry rings in NE Peru". University College London. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
Brown, Keith S.; Woodruff W. Benson (1974). "Adaptive polymorphism associated with multiple Müllerian mimicry in Heliconius numata (Lepid. Nymph.)". Biotropica. 6 (4). doi:10.2307/2989666. JSTOR 2989666.