''Heliconius heurippa'' is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Heliconius ''Heliconius'' comprises a colorful and widespread genus of brush-footed butterflies commonly known as the longwings or heliconians. This genus is distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the New World, from South America ...

'' that is believed by some scientists to be a separate species from—but a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

of—the species ''

Heliconius cydno ''Heliconius cydno'', the cydno longwing, is a nymphalid butterfly that ranges from Mexico to northern South America. It is typically found in the forest understory and deposits its eggs on a variety of plants of the genus ''Passiflora''. It is ...

'' and ''

Heliconius melpomene ''Heliconius melpomene'', the postman butterfly, common postman or simply postman, is a brightly colored, geographically variable butterfly species found throughout Central and South America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 ...

'', making ''H. heurippa'' an example of

hybrid speciation Hybrid speciation is a form of speciation where hybridization between two different species leads to a new species, reproductively isolated from the parent species. Previously, reproductive isolation between two species and their parents was tho ...

Range

''H. heurippa'' is found on the eastern slopes of the

Andes Mountains The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Hybridisation

The color pattern of ''H. heurippa'' appears to be a combination of the patterns found on ''H. cydno'' and ''H. melpomene''. Natural hybrids from

San Cristóbal, Táchira San Cristóbal () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of Táchira. It is located in a mountainous region of Western Venezuela. The city is situated above sea level in the northern Andes overlooking the Torbes River, from the Colombian ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, display wing patterns very similar to ''H. heurippa'', supporting the hypothesis of a hybrid origin for the species. A team from the

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI, ) is located in Panama and is the only bureau of the Smithsonian Institution based outside of the United States. It is dedicated to understanding the past, present, and future of tropical ecosyst ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

attempted to recreate ''H. heurippa'' by breeding ''H. cydno'' with ''H. melpomene''. In only three generations of hybridization, the investigators developed butterflies with wing patterns almost identical to those of ''H. heurippa'' that may be very similar to the first ''H. heurippa'' individuals. Butterflies within ''Heliconius'' are "extremely choosey" about finding mates with wing patterns that match their own, and ''H. heurippa'' males given a choice between mating with females of ''H. heurippa'', ''H. cydno'', or ''H. melpomene'' species were 75 to 90 percent more likely to choose their own kind. They were similarly discriminating when presented with photographs of wing patterns instead of actual mates. The wing patterns of ''H. heurippa'' individuals also make them undesirable as mates for members of their parents' species as well, showing evidence for

reproductive isolation The mechanisms of reproductive isolation are a collection of evolutionary mechanisms, ethology, behaviors and physiology, physiological processes critical for speciation. They prevent members of different species from producing offspring, or ensu ...

between ''H. heurippa'' and its putative parental species. Skeptics wish to see further genetic sequencing demonstrating that wild ''H. heurippa'' is a hybrid similar to the laboratory-developed animals, and the ''H. heurippa'' hybrid speciation hypothesis has been the subject of a recent (2011) critical review. There is evidence to suggest that the

genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

of ''H. heurippa'' may be a

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

. The species '' H. timareta'' and '' H. pachinus'' are also proposed to result from the hybridization of ''H. cydno'' and ''H. melpomene''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3129732 heurippa Butterflies described in 1854 Taxa named by William Chapman Hewitson Nymphalidae of South America Lepidoptera of Colombia