Heliconius antiochus
Margarita BeltránCharacteristics
Early stages: Eggs are yellow and approximately 1.1 x 0.8 mm (h x w). Females usually place 5 to 40 eggs on growing shoots of the host plant. Mature larvae have a yellow body with black scoli and head; length is around 1.2 cm. Caterpillars are gregarious (Brown, 1981)
Geographical Distribution
Heliconius antiochus is disributed from Panama to the Amazon. The map below shows an approximate representation of the geographic distribution of this species. The original data used to draw these maps is derived from Brown (1979) which is available at Keith S. Brown Jr. (1979). Ecological Geography and Evolution in Neotropical Forests .
Habits
H. antiochus occurs from sea level to 1,000 m in riparian forest. Usually individuals fly slowly and in the canopy. The males sit on the pupae a day before emergence, and mating occurs the next morning, before the female has completely eclosed. Adults roost at night in large groups on twigs or tendrils over water (Brown, 1981).
Host plant: H. antiochus larvae feed primarily on plants from the genus Passiflora, subgenus Astrophea (Brown, 1981).
References
Brown K. S. 1981 The Biology of Heliconius and Related Genera. Annual Review of Entomology 26, 427-456.
Linnaeus C. 1767. Systema naturae. Editio duodecima reformata. Holmiae, Laurentius Salvius. 1(2): [ii] , 533-1328 , [36] pp.
Title Illustrations
![Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window](http://tolweb.org/tolarchive/72945/20080812/tree/img/magnify.gif)
Scientific Name | Heliconius antiochus |
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Location | Rondonia, Brazil |
Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
Source | Anitochus Longwing |
Source Collection | Neotropical Butterflies |
Copyright | © 2002 Will and Gill Carter |
About This Page
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Margarita Beltr?n at
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Heliconius antiochus
Authored by
. Margarita Beltr?n.
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- First online 18 February 2007
- Content changed 12 August 2008
Citing this page:
Beltrán, Margarita. 2008. Heliconius antiochus http://tolweb.org/Heliconius_antiochus/72945/2008.08.12 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
. Version 12 August 2008 (under construction).