Heliconius erato

Red postman
H. e. petiverana, dorsal view
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Heliconius
Species:
H. erato
Binomial name
Heliconius erato
Subspecies

Many, see text

Synonyms
  • Papilio erato
H. e. petiverana in flight, Guatemala

Heliconius erato, or the red postman, is one of about 40 neotropical species of butterfly belonging to the genus Heliconius. It is also commonly known as the small postman, the red passion flower butterfly, or the crimson-patched longwing. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.[1]

H. erato exhibits Müllerian mimicry with other Heliconius butterflies such as Heliconius melpomene in order to warn common predators against attacking, which contributes to its surprising longevity.[2][3] It also has a unique mating ritual involving the transfer of anti-aphrodisiacs from males to females.[4]

Recent field work has confirmed the relative abundance of this butterfly.[5]

  1. ^ Markku Savela. "Heliconius erato". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Thiele, Sabrina Campos; Milcharek, Oscar; Santos, Fábio Luis dos; Kaminski, Lucas Augusto (2014). "Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea and Papilionoidea) of Porto Mauá, Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest Ecoregion, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil". Biota Neotropica. 14 (2): 1–10. doi:10.1590/1676-06032014000613.