Heliconius nattereri
Margarita Beltrán and Andrew V. Z. BrowerIntroduction
Heliconius nattereri is the rarest Heliconius species, occurring in small remnant pockets of the Atlantic Coastal Forest of Brazil. It is also the only Heliconius with sexually dimorphic wing patterns: the two sexes were originally described as separate species.
Characteristics
Early stages: Eggs are cream and approximately 1.1 x 0.8 mm (h x w). Females usually place 1 to 3 eggs on growing shoots and tendrils of the host plant. Mature larvae have a white body with black spots, with black scoli and black and yellow head, length is around 1.8 cm. Caterpillars are gregarious (Brown, 1981).
Geographical Distribution
Heliconius nattereri is distributed in East Brazil (Bahia). The map below 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.
Distribution of Heliconius nattereri and Heliconius hierax. © 2002 Margarita Beltran.
Habits
H. nattereri occurs from sea level to 1,300 m in humid forests. Usually males fly rapidly and in the canopy and females slowly and in the middlestory. Females mate multiply and adults roost solitarily or in loose groups at night at 2-10 m above ground on twigs or tendrils.
Hostplant: H. nattereri larvae feed primarily on plants from the genera Tetrastylis and Dilkea (Brown, 1981).
References
Brown, K. S., Jr. 1970 Rediscovery of Heliconius nattereri in eastern Brazil. Entomol. News 81, 129-140.
Brown, K. S., Jr. 1972 The heliconians of Brazil (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part III. Ecology and biology of Heliconius nattereri, a key primitive species near extinction, and comments on the evolutionary development of Heliconius and Eueides. Zoologica NY 57, 41-69.
Brown K. S. 1981 The Biology of Heliconius and Related Genera. Annual Review of Entomology 26, 427-456.
Felder C. Felder R. 1865. Reise der ?sterreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen des Commo-dore B. von W?llerstorf-Urbair. Zoologischer Theil. Zweiter Band. Zweite Abtheilung: Lepidoptera. Wien, Carl Gerold's Sohn. (1): [4] + 1-136, pls. 1-21.
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
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Heliconius nattereri .
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- First online 18 February 2007
- Content changed 12 August 2008
Citing this page:
Beltrán, Margarita and Brower, Andrew V. Z. 2008. Heliconius nattereri . Version 12 August 2008 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Heliconius_nattereri/72908/2008.08.12 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
