Under Construction

Heliconius doris (Linnaeus 1771) described in Papilio

Margarita Beltrán and Andrew V. Z. Brower
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Containing group: Heliconius

Introduction

Heliconius doris populations are polymorphic in parts of the species distribution, with blue, red or green coloration at the base of the dorsal hindwing.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Laparus doris doris. Red morph on left, blue on right. ©

Etymology: DORIS was the Okeanid nymph wife of the sea-god Nereus, and the mother of the fifty Nereides. She may have been the goddess of the rich fishing-grounds found at the mouths of rivers where fresh water mingled with the brine. The Okeanides were sisters of the Rivers. Her name is connected with two words–dôron, "gift" or "bounty," and zôros, "pure" and "unmixed." Zôros was often used to describe fresh water and from it were derived words such as zôrua "a pipe for running water" and zôrux "a canal or water conduit" (Doris).

Characteristics

Early stages:  Eggs are yellow and approximately 1.1 x 0.8 mm (h x w). Females gather together and usually each one places eggs to a total of 50 to 1000 in leaves of the host plant. Mature larvae have a yellow body with black bands and black scoli and head; length is approximately 0.1 cm. Caterpillars are gregarious (Brown, 1981).

Geographical Distribution

Heliconius doris is distributed from Central America to the Amazon. This map shows an approximate representation of the geographic distribution of this species. The original data used to draw these maps are derived from Brown (1979) which is available at  Keith S. Brown Jr. (1979). Ecological Geography and Evolution in Neotropical Forests

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Distribution of Heliconius doris (=Laparus doris). The range extends eastward beyond the pink area of the map, including Trinidad and the Guianas. © 2002 Margarita Beltran.

There are four named geographical races of H. doris (as well as numerous synonyms associated with the polymorphic populations):

Habits

H. doris occurs from sea level to 1,800 m in forest clearings.  Usually individuals fly rapidly and in the middlestory.

Larval hostplant: the gregarious larvae feed primarily on plants from the subgenus Granadilla, from the Quadrangulares, Digitales, and Laurifoliae sections (Passifloreaceae) (Brown, 1981)

Other Names for Heliconius doris (Linnaeus 1771) described in Papilio

References

Brower AVZ, and Egan MG. 1997. Cladistics of Heliconius butterflies and relatives (Nymphalidae: Heliconiiti): the phylogenetic position of Eueides based on sequences from mtDNA and a nuclear gene. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 264: 969-977.

Brown K. S. 1981 The Biology of Heliconius and Related Genera. Annual Review of Entomology 26, 427-456.

Doris. Theoi Greek Mythology. http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheDoris.html [Accessed Jul 16, 2008].

Linnaeus C. 1771 Regni animalis, Appendix. Insecta, pp. 529-543. In: Mantissa plantarum altera generum editionis VI & specierum editionis II. Holmiae, Laurentius Salvius. Pp. [i-vi], 143-588.

Penz CM. 1999. Higher level phylogeny for the passion-vine butterflies (Nymphalidae, Heliconiinae) based on early stage and adult morphology. Zoo. J. Linn. Soc. 127: 277-344.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Heliconius doris
Location captive, Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Chesterfield, Missouri, USA
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By Andrew V. Z. Brower
Behavior Note the pollen being digested on the proboscis.
Sex Female
Life Cycle Stage adult
View ventral
Source Erato heliconian (Heliconius erato)
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2008 capnr0n
Scientific Name Heliconius (Laparus) doris
Location COLOMBIA: Cundinamarca, La Vega
Acknowledgements used by permission, granted to AVZB 5/18/11
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By Kim Garwood
Sex Male
Life Cycle Stage adult
View dorsal
Source Laparus doris
Source Collection Flickr
Copyright © 2010 Mike Chapman
Scientific Name Laparus doris doris red
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
View Ventral
Collection Gerardo Lamas
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
About This Page


University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK


Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Margarita Beltrán at and Andrew V. Z. Brower at

Page: Tree of Life Heliconius doris (Linnaeus 1771) described in Papilio. Authored by Margarita Beltrán and Andrew V. Z. Brower. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Beltrán, Margarita and Andrew V. Z. Brower. 2011. Heliconius doris (Linnaeus 1771) described in Papilio. Version 22 May 2011 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Heliconius_doris/72918/2011.05.22 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Leaf Page.

Each ToL leaf page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a leaf at the tip of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a leaf and a branch of the Tree of Life is that a leaf cannot generally be further subdivided into subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Heliconius doris

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top