| Red Postman (Heliconius erato (Linnaeus, 1758)) |
|
|
|
Scientific name: Heliconius erato (Linnaeus, 1758) Common name: Red Postman Other names: Crimson-patched Longwing French name: Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Rhopalocera Family: Nymphalidae Subfamily: Heliconiinae Wingspan: 55 to 80 mm. Biotope: Tropical forests, woodland edges. Geographic area: Central America and almost all South America including the western slopes of the Andes. Flight time: All year round. Number of generations : Caterpillar: White with black dots, long black spines and a dark brown under side. Host plant: Passiflora sp. |
Heliconius erato shows a very important diversity with more 20 subspecies and forms. The wings have the typical elongated shape of the Heliconiinae sub-family and show a dark brown to black ground colour. The fore wings are crossed by one orange patch, sometimes by two, or show white spots and an orange base. There are even forms with a blue metallic colour. The hind wings are sometimes a uniform dark brown colour. They are sometimes crossed by a thin white stripe. They sometimes show an orange base with veins highlighted with the same colour. There is an important mimicry with Heliconius melpomene which shows almost similar forms as Heliconius erato in each region. You need an underside view to tell both species apart. The underside of the base of the hind wing shows four red dots, very close to the thorax, on Heliconius erato. It only shows three red dots on Heliconius melpomene. |
| [To know more about the Red Postman] [Next picture] [Top] |
|
I have shot this picture at Matoury, while walking along the Mirande footpath. I think that this one is Heliconius erato hydara form callycopis. |
| [To know more about the Red Postman] [Next picture] [Previous picture] [Top] |
|
I have been a little angry at this butterfly as it has just moved its wings when I shot the picture. However this is this picture, in the non-reduced version, that helped me to discard Heliconius melpomene because you can clearly see four red dots at the base of the underside of the hind wing. |
| [To know more about the Red Postman] [Previous picture] [Top] |
|
I have shot this picture at Sinnamary, next to the Yiyi marshes, on the footpath going from the Nature House to the bird watching huts. I haven't got any underside view, so there is still a doubt between Heliconius erato hydara and Heliconius melpomene melpomene. So let's stay at Heliconius sp. |
André Bon May 2014