''Heliconius numata'', the Numata longwing, is a brush-footed butterfly species belonging to the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a re ...

, subfamily Heliconiinae.

Distribution and habitat

This species is native to most of South America, from Venezuela to southern Brazil (Guyana, French Guiana, Surinam, Guatemala, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and Peru). ''H. numata'' is a neotropical species, less common in virgin forest than in areas of secondary growth. It occurs at an elevation of above sea level in tall forests. Funet - Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and some other life forms''
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Subspecies

Subspecies include: *''Heliconius numata numata'' (Surinam, French Guiana, Guyana) *''Heliconius numata silvana'' (Stoll, 1781) (Surinam, Guyana, Venezuela, Guatemala, Brazil: Pará, Amazonas) *''Heliconius numata ethra'' (Hübner, 831 (Brazil: Espírito Santo) *''Heliconius numata aristiona'' Hewitson, 853/small> (Bolivia, Peru) *''Heliconius numata aurora'' Bates, 1862 (Brazil: Amazonas, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru) *''Heliconius numata euphone'' C. & R. Felder, 1862 (Colombia, Ecuador) *''Heliconius numata messene'' C. & R. Felder, 1862 (Colombia) *''Heliconius numata bicoloratus'' Butler, 1873 (Peru) *''Heliconius numata arcuella'' Druce, 1874 (Peru) *''Heliconius numata nubifer'' Butler, 1875 (Brazil: Amazonas) *''Heliconius numata superioris'' Butler, 1875 (Brazil: Amazonas, Pará, Venezuela) *''Heliconius numata robigus'' Weymer, 1875 (Venezuela) *''Heliconius numata aulicus'' Weymer, 1883 (Venezuela) *''Heliconius numata lenaeus'' Weymer, 1891 (Ecuador) *''Heliconius numata lyrcaeus'' Weymer, 1891 (Peru) *''Heliconius numata geminatus'' Weymer, 1894 (Brazil: Amazonas) *''Heliconius numata illustris'' Weymer, 1894(Peru) *''Heliconius numata mavors'' Weymer, 1894 (Brazil: Amazonas) *''Heliconius numata mirus'' Weymer, 1894 (Bolivia) *''Heliconius numata tarapotensis'' Riffarth, 1901 (Peru) *''Heliconius numata zobrysi'' Fruhstorfer, 1910 (Brazil: Mato Grosso) *''Heliconius numata ignotus'' Joicey & Kaye, 1917 (Peru) *''Heliconius numata talboti'' Joicey & Kaye, 1917 (Peru) *''Heliconius numata pratti'' Joicey & Kaye, 1917 (Peru) *''Heliconius numata peeblesi'' Joicey & Talbot, 1925 (Venezuela) *''Heliconius numata jiparanaensis'' Neustetter, 1931 (Brazil: Rondônia) *''Heliconius numata holzingeri'' Fernández & Brown, 1976 (Venezuela) *''Heliconius numata sourensis'' Brown, 1976 (Brazil: Pará)

Description

''Heliconius numata'' has a wingspan of . These very large butterflies have long and rounded wings of brown and orange color, with very variable markings due to its capacity of mimicry with several species. The caterpillar is white with black spots and black thorns.

Biology

''H. numata'' is known for its mimicry of '' Melinaea'' butterflies. Both ''H. numata'' and the species of ''Melinaea'' it resembles are unpalatable to predators, making this a case of

Müllerian mimicry Müllerian mimicry is a natural phenomenon in which two or more well-defended species, often foul-tasting and sharing common predators, have come to mimicry, mimic each other's honest signal, honest aposematism, warning signals, to their mutuali ...

, a mutualistic reinforcement of the same negative signal. Both males and females are attracted to red or orange flowers, or indeed to pieces of cloth colored red or orange. Eggs typically are found on low-growing vines of '' Passiflora''. Caterpillars mainly feed on plants from the subgenera '' Granadilla'', '' Astrophea'' and '' Distephana'' ( Passifloraceae) and from the genera '' Tetrastyli'' and '' Dilkea''.

Gallery

File:Heliconius numata bicoloratus (14863851469).jpg, ''Heliconius numata bicoloratus'' File:Heliconius numata numata MHNT dos.JPG, ''Heliconius numata numata'', dorsal, MHNT File:Heliconius numata numata MHNT ventre.JPG, ''Heliconius numata numata'', ventral, MHNT File:Heliconius mimicry.png, Top four are forms of ''Heliconius numata'', bottom four are '' H. melpomene'' and '' H. erato''

Bibliography

*Brown K. S. 1981 The Biology of Heliconius and Related Genera. Annual Review of Entomology 26, 427-456. *Cramer, Pieter 721_17761780. De uitlandische Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen Asia, Africa en America. Papillons exotiques des trois parties du monde l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amérique. Amsteldam, S. J. Baalde; Utrecht, Barthelemy Wild and J. Van Schoonho-ven & Comp.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3024578 numata Nymphalidae of South America Butterflies described in 1780