Little courier

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Little courier
Heliconius erato 001.JPG

Little Courier ( Heliconius erato )

Systematics
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Noble butterfly (Nymphalidae)
Subfamily : Heliconiinae
Tribe : Passion flower butterfly (Heliconiini)
Genre : Heliconius
Type : Little courier
Scientific name
Heliconius erato
( Linnaeus , 1758)
left row: Heliconius erato ,
right row: Heliconius melpomene

The little courier ( Heliconius erato ), sometimes also called the little postman , is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the genus Heliconius in the family of the noble butterfly (Nymphalidae). Carl von Linné named the species in his Systema Naturae after Erato , a muse from Greek mythology .

description

butterfly

The moths reach a wingspan of 67 to 80 millimeters. Their wings are remarkably long and narrow. The basic color is mostly black, a red band runs over each upper side of the forewing from the middle of the front edge to the inner corner . On the hind wings a broad white line extends parallel to the front edge. The drawing on the fronts shows through to the undersides of the wings. The coloring of the moths is extraordinarily variable and regional subspecies occur in which the ribbon and line drawing is reduced or absent. There are also specimens with extensive brown or white color elements.

Similar species

Most of the butterflies of the Great Courier ( Heliconius melpomene ) are practically indistinguishable from the Small Courier. The adults of both species show an extraordinarily similar wing pattern, which has become more and more similar in the course of evolution . Extensive comparisons using the methodology of artificial intelligence and mathematical models indicate that the similarity of the wing pattern between the two species is even more pronounced than between the butterflies within the individual species. This is an example of that by Johann Friedrich Theodor Müller founded principle of Müller'schen mimicry , which says that different species that are poisonous to predators, take on a similar appearance with a warning color ( aposematism ) and are therefore avoided by them.

egg

The Little Courier's egg is yellow in color, is cone-shaped and has many serrated longitudinal ribs. Shortly before the caterpillar hatches, it turns orange. It is deposited individually on the host plant.

Caterpillar

The caterpillars are creamy white on the top and dark brown on the underside, dotted black over the entire body surface and provided with long, black, slightly branched thorns. The head is straw yellow.

Doll

The light brown colored doll shows a protruding saddle, on the abdomen some tubercles and thorns and two long flange-like head appendages. Sometimes it makes faint noises.

  • H. erato amazona

  • H. erato chestertonii

  • Underside of wing H. erato petiverana

  • Caterpillar, lateral

  • Caterpillar, ventral

distribution and habitat

The Little Courier is widespread in Central and South America, locally in southern Texas . The species primarily colonizes tropical rainforests , but can also be found in coffee plantations as well as in gardens and parks. The altitude distribution ranges from sea level to altitudes of 1,800 meters.

Way of life

The moths fly in consecutive generations throughout the year, with a main occurrence in July and August as well as in December and January. Visit for nectar intake like flowers of Wandelröschen- , Hamelia - or Palicourea species. It is primarily the females who also take in pollen . The pollen from Psiguria , Citrullus and Gurania flowers contain amino acids that cannot be obtained from nectar. They contribute to a large extent to the longevity of the butterflies, some of which live up to nine months. At night, the Little Courier's butterflies gather at overnight places, sometimes in groups of up to ten animals. The caterpillars feed on various types of passion flowers ( passiflora ). Just like the moths later, they become inedible to predators due to the toxins absorbed from these plants.

The species is widespread and not rare in some areas. There is still no entry in the Red List of Threatened Species .

Subspecies

In the individual occurrence areas 29 subspecies are currently listed.

  • Heliconius erato adana Turner , 1967
  • Heliconius erato amazona Staudinger , 1897
  • Heliconius erato amphitrite Riffarth , 1901
  • Heliconius erato chestertonii Hewitson , 1872
  • Heliconius erato colombina Staudinger , 1897
  • Heliconius erato cruentus Lamas , 1998
  • Heliconius erato cyrbia Godart , 1819
  • Heliconius erato demophoon Ménétriés , 1855
  • Heliconius erato dignus graver , 1923
  • Heliconius erato Emma Riffarth , 1901
  • Heliconius erato erato Linnaeus , 1764
  • Heliconius erato estrella Bates , 1862
  • Heliconius erato etylus Salvin , 1871
  • Heliconius erato favorinus Hopffer , 1874
  • Heliconius erato guarica Reakirt , 1868
  • Heliconius erato hydara Hewitson , 1867
  • Heliconius erato lativitta Butler , 1877
  • Heliconius erato lichyi Brown & Fernández , 1985
  • Heliconius erato luscom bei Lamas , 1976
  • Heliconius erato magnifica Riffarth , 1900
  • Heliconius erato microclea Kaye , 1907
  • Heliconius erato notabilis Salvin & Goodman , 1868
  • Heliconius erato petiverana Doubleday , 1847
  • Heliconius erato phyllis ( Fabricius , 1775)
  • Heliconius erato reductimacula Bryk , 1953
  • Heliconius erato tobagoensis Barcant , 1982
  • Heliconius erato venus Staudinger , 1882
  • Heliconius erato venustus Salvin , 1871

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Butterflies and Moths of North America
  2. ↑ Jennifer F. Hoyal Cuthill, Nicholas Guttenberg, Sophie Ledger, Robyn Crowther, Blanca Huertas: Deep learning on butterfly phenotypes tests evolution's oldest mathematical model In: Science Advances, Vol. 5, no. 8, 2019, pp. 1–11 doi : 10.1126 / sciadv.aaw4967 .
  3. ^ A b James A. Scott: The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1986, ISBN 0-8047-1205-0 , pp. 342/343
  4. ↑ a b c d Butterflies of the Amazon and Andes
  5. ↑ flight times
  6. ↑ Mirian Medina Hay-Roe & James Nation: Spectrum of Cyanide Toxicity and Allocation in Heliconius erato and Passiflora Host Plants In: Journal of Chemical Ecology, Volume 33, Issue 2, 2007, pp. 319–329 doi : 10.1007 / s10886-006 -9234-5 .
  7. ↑ Markku Savela: distribution. In: Lepidoptera and some other life forms. Accessed August 28, 2019 .

literature

  • James A. Scott: The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1986, ISBN 0-8047-1205-0

Web links

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