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Heliconius hecale

(Tiger Longwing)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Tiger Longwing

Description

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Family Nymphalidae

'The Nymphalidae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Distributed worldwide, butterflies of this family are especially rich in the tropics. They are highly variable, and there are more species in this family than in any other. Adults vary in size from small to large, and their front legs are reduced, unable to be used for walking. Wing shape is also highly variable: some species have irregular margins (anglewings and commas), and others have long taillike projections (daggerwings). Browns, oranges, yellows, and blacks are frequent colors, while iridescent colors such as purples and blues are rare. Adults of some groups are the longest-lived butterflies, surviving 6-11 months. Adult feeding behavior depends on the species, where some groups primarily seek flower nectar while others only feed on sap flows , rotting fruit, dung, or animal carcasses. Males exhibit perching and patrolling behaviors when seeking mates. Egg-laying varies widely, as some species lay eggs in clustsers, others in columns, and others singly. Caterpillar appearance and behavior vary widely. Brushfoots overwinter as larvae or adults.

'[1]

Subfamily Heliconiinae

Longwings are members of the Family Nymphalidae. They are richest in the tropics, but several genera are prominent in the Northern Hermisphere, including the fritillaries or silverspots and the lesser fritillaries. The adults of several species are distasteful, and many other species mimic the distasteful butterflies of this subfamily . Adults are long-lived, with some as long as six months. Males patrol in search of females. The adults of genus Heliconius are unique in that they intentionally collect pollen in their proboscis and then absorb its proteins.[2]

Habitat

Typically found in the intertidal zone at the water's edge at a mean distance from sea level of 158 meters (517 feet).[3]

Biome: Coastal.

Biology

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Behavior

Circadian communal roosting in butterflies occurs when a number of butterflies gather to rest for the night, typically on a single branch . These communal roosters can be quite numerous and can consist of single specie or a variety of species. Each evening, the air around the roosting site fills with butterflies as they fly back and forth and work to find an open spot on the roost. The whole process takes about an hour to complete because the new arrivals tend to agitate the butterflies that perched earlier. Unless the roosting site is disturbed , the same butterflies will visit that spot night after night. Strength in numbers is one of the benefits of communal roosting for Longwings. Predators dislike the taste of Longwing butterflies, so if a predator eats from the roost it will quickly learn not to do it again, saving the group.

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Heliconius

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 26 species and subspecies in this genus:

H. antiochus (Anitochus Longwing) · H. charithonia (Zebra) · H. charithonia charithonia (Zebra Butterfly) · H. charithonia tuckeri (Zebra Longwing) · H. clysonimus (Passionvine Butterfly) · H. clysonymus (Clysonymus Longwing) · H. cydno (Blue and White Longwing) · H. doris (Doris Longwing) · H. eleuchia (Eleuchia Longwing Butterfly) · H. erato (Crimson Patched) · H. hecale (Tiger Longwing) · H. hecale zuleika (Hecale Longwing) · H. hecale zuleika f. albipunctata (Hecale Longwing) · H. hermathena (Hermathona Heliconian) · H. hortense (Mountain Longwing) · H. ismenius (Ismenius Tiger) · H. melpomene (Postman) · H. melpomene rosina (Tragic Longwing) · H. melpomene xenoclea (Xenoclea Longwing) · H. nattereri (Natterer's Longwing) · H. numata (Numata Longwing) · H. procula (Acting Longwing) · H. sara (Sara Longwing Butterfly) · H. sara fulgidus (Sara's Longwing) · H. telesiphe (Telesiphe Longwing) · H. wallacei (Wallace's Longwing)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=18&sci=Nymphalidae&com=Brush-footed Butterflies [back]
  2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Freija&search=Search [back]
  3. Standard Deviation = 666.150 based on 90 observations. Terrestrial altitude and ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/21/2012