Heliconius erato
Margarita Beltrán and Andrew V. Z. Brower
Introduction
This widespread, geographically variable butterfly is involved in Müllerian mimicry with the concordantly variable Heliconius melpomene over most of its range. Only H. erato chestertonii Hewitson does not have a corresponding H. melpomene co-mimic. That race, from the upper Cauca valley of Colombia, is a co-mimic of H. cydno weymeri Staudinger.
Geographical Distribution
Distribution of Heliconius erato. © 2002 Margarita Beltran.
Distribution of Heliconius erato geographical races of Central America and the Andean and the upper Amazonian regions of South America, and the closely-related H. himera (black asterisks). Symbols indicate distinct phenotypes, but some phenotypes, such as those indicated by the black and green circles, represent multiple allopatric races. Figure modified from Mallet (1992), © 2007 Andrew V. Z. Brower.
References
Brower AVZ. 1994. Rapid morphological radiation and convergence among races of the butterfly Heliconius erato inferred from patterns of mitochondrial DNA evolution. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91: 6491-6495.
Brower AVZ. 1996. Parallel race formation and the evolution of mimicry in Heliconius butterflies: a phylogenetic hypothesis from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Evolution 50: 195-221.
Descimon, H. & Mast de Maeght, J. 1983 Semispecies relationships between Heliconius erato cyrbia Godt. and H. himera Hew. in southwestern Ecuador. J. Res. Lep. 22, 229-237.
Jiggins, C. D., McMillan, W. O., King, P. & Mallet, J. 1997 The maintenance of species differences across a Heliconius hybrid zone. Heredity 79, 495-505.
Mallet, J. 1993. Speciation, raciation and color pattern evolution in Heliconius butterflies: evidence from hybrid zones. In Hybrid Zones and the Evolutionary Process (ed. R. G. Harrison), pp. 226-260. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Title Illustrations
| Scientific Name | Heliconius erato emma |
|---|---|
| Specimen Condition | Dead Specimen |
| View | Dorsal |
| Collection | Gerardo Lamas |
| Copyright | © |
| Scientific Name | Heliconius erato emma |
|---|---|
| Specimen Condition | Dead Specimen |
| View | Ventral |
| Collection | Gerardo Lamas |
| Copyright | © |
| Scientific Name | Heliconius erato favorinus |
|---|---|
| Specimen Condition | Dead Specimen |
| View | Dorsal |
| Collection | Gerardo Lamas |
| Copyright | © |
| Scientific Name | Heliconius erato favorinus |
|---|---|
| Specimen Condition | Dead Specimen |
| View | Ventral |
| Collection | Gerardo Lamas |
| 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 Beltr?n at and Andrew V. Z. Brower at
Page copyright © 2006 and
- First online 18 February 2007
- Content changed 17 September 2007
Citing this page:
Beltrán, Margarita and Brower, Andrew V. Z. 2007. Heliconius erato . Version 17 September 2007 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Heliconius_erato/72242/2007.09.17 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
