Heliconius cydno Doubleday 1847

Introduction

Heliconius cydno is a polytypic species ranging from southern Mexico to western Ecuador, with a number of closely-related entities (including H. pachinus, H. heurippa, H. timareta and H. tristero) that have been described as separate species but may be differentiated geographical races or the results of introgressive hybridization. Patterns of gene flow between races of H. cydno and races of its close relative H. melpomene are the subject of much current research (e. g., Mavarez et al. 2006).

Heliconius cydno is involved im Müllerian mimicry with Heliconius sapho over most of its range, and also with Heliconiu eleuchia in western Colombia and Ecuador. In the upper Cauca valley of Colombia, there are no corresponding races of either of the latter species, and H. cydno weymeri is comimetic with H. erato chestertonii, whose usual mimic H. melpomene is also not present there.

Characteristics

Heliconius cydno butterflies are black with a variety of yellow or white bands or spots on forewings and/or hindwings. In general, regardless of the variation in the distribution and color of other wing pattern elements, adult specimens of H. cydno exhibit brown transverse bars on the ventral surface of the hindwings (as visible in the title photograph), a characteristic that easily distinguishes them from their mimics. Some "hybrid" specimens lack these bars, however.

Geographical Distribution

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Distribution of Heliconius cydno and related species. © Margarita Beltran

Geographical Races

Like many species of Heliconius, H. cydno exhibits discrete geographical variation in its wing coloration, with relatively narrow zones of hybridization between adjacent geographical races. The following subspecific names are recognized by Lamas (2004):

• Heliconius cydno galanthus H. W. Bates 1864. southern Mexico to Costa Rica (Atlantic slope).
• Heliconius cydno chioneus H. W. Bates 1864. Eastern Costa Rica to northwestern Colombia.
• Heliconius cydno cydno Doubleday 1847. Magdalena Valley, Colombia.
• Heliconius cydno zelinde Butler 1869. Chocó, western Colombia.
• Heliconius cydno weymeri Staudinger 1897. Upper Cauca Valley, Colombia.
• Heliconius cydno hermogenes Hewitson [1858]. Central Magdalena Valley, Colombia.
• Heliconius cydno lisethae Neukirchen 1995. Upper Magdalena Valley, Colombia.
• Heliconius cydno wanningeri Neukirchen 1991. Santander, Colombia.
• Heliconius cydno cordula Neustetter 1913. Eastern Cordillera Oriental, Colombia.
• Heliconisu cydno cydnides Staudinger 1885. Sierra de Perija, Colombia.
• Heliconius cydno barinasensis Masters 1973. Cordillera Merida, Venezuela.
• Heliconius cydno gadouae K. S. Brown & F. Fernández 1985. Sierra de Perija, Venezuela.
• Heliconius cydno alithea Hewitson 1869. Pacific slope, Ecuador.

The following taxa are closely-elated to H. cydno and may represent geographical races/subspecies rather than distinct species (see Brower 1996):

• Heliconius pachinus Salvin 1871. Costa Rica (Pacific slope).
• Heliconius heurippa Hewitson [1854]. Meta, Colombia.
• Heliconius tristero Brower 1996. Putumayo, Colombia.
• Heliconius timareta timareta Hewitson 1867. Eastern Ecuador.
• Heliconius timareta timoratus Lamas 1998. Northeastern Peru.

References

Brower, A. V. Z. 1996 A new mimetic species of Heliconius (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), from southeastern Colombia, as revealed by cladistic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 116, 317-332.Brown, K. S., Jr. 1979 Ecologia Geogr?fica e Evolu??o nas Florestas Neotropicais. Campinas, S?o Paulo, Brasil: Universidade Estadual de Campinas.

Lamas, G. (ed.) 2004 Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part 4A Hesperioidea - Papiionoidea. Gainesville: Scientific Publishers/Association of Tropical Lepidoptera.

Linares, M. 1997 Origin of neotropical mimetic biodiversity from a three-way hybrid zone of Heliconius cydno butterflies. In Tropcal biodiversity and systematics. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Biodiversity and Systematics in Tropical Ecosystems, Bonn, 1994. (ed. H. Ulrich), pp. 93-108. Bonn: Zoologisches Forschung Institut und Museum Alexander Koenig.

Mavarez, J., Salazar, C. A., Bermingham, E., Salcedo, C., Jiggins, C. D. & Linares, M. 2006 Speciation by hybridization in Heliconius butterflies. Nature 441, 868-871 + 11 supplementary pages.