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Heliconius erato

Heliconius erato, 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.

H. erato exhibits Müllerian mimicry with other Heliconius butterflies in order to warn common predators, which contributes to its surprising longevity. It also has a unique mating ritual involving the transfer of anti-aphrodisiacs from males to females.

Habitat and home range

H. erato is a neotropical species and resides on the edges of tropical rain forests.[5] It is philopatric, having a particularly restricted home range.[2] In Trinidad, some home ranges are only separated by 30 yards, but H. erato still remains in the area.[4]

Food Resources

Catepillars

Larvae feed on their host plant, first consuming the terminal bud.[1]

Adults

H. erato is a pollen-feeding species. They do not spend much time collecting nectar (only a few seconds), and does so indifferently. Instead, they collect pollen in a mass on the side of the ventral side of their proboscis. They next agitate it by coiling and uncoiling their proboscis in order to release its nutrients. H. erato is then able to extract nitrogenous compounds in a clear liquid, including amino acids like arginine, leucine, lysine, valine, proline, histidine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, and tryptophan. Females typically carry larger loads of pollen as she requires more nutrients for egg production. [6]

Parental Care

Oviposition

Adult females have been observed to oviposit on the meristem of the host species. Individual plant choice is based on internode length, terminal bud presence, shoot size, and leaf area, in order to confer the larvae greater survival advantage. H. erato has not been found to choose host plant subspecies based on individual history with subspecies for larval feeding.[1]

Host plants

Host plants include a wide variety of passiflora vines, including:

• P. Biflora [3]
• P. suberosa[2]
• P. misera[1](preferred by H. erato phyillis)
• P. capsularis[2]
• P. elegans[2]
• P. actinia [1]
• P. granadilla[2]
  • menispermifoliae
  • setaceae
  • pedatae
  • imbricatae
  • incarnatae
  • simplificoliae
  • lobatae
  • kermesinae
  • tryphostemmatoides
  • psilanthis
  • psudomurucuja

• P. plectostemma[2]
  • auriculata
  • cieca
  • xerogona

Social Behavior

The red postman returns to a communal roost every night that contains members of the same species and of other heliconids.[5] The roost is typically situated about 2-10m from the ground on twigs and tendrils and is occupied by a small group of.[2] Adults just emerged from the pupa typically roost alone for a few days before roosting with others.[5]

Life history

Life cycle

The red postman has been observed to live in the wild for at least 20 days. They live for more than a month in captivity and have been recorded to live up to 186 days.[6] This is significantly longer than other temperate and tropical butterflies, which live for a month at best in captivity. H. erato’s longevity can be explained by its benign climate and undoubted unpalatability, as well as the benefits conferred by digesting pollen.

Egg

The H. erato female lays about 1-4 yellow eggs a day that average 1.5 mm in height and 0.9 mm in diameter.[2][7] The eggs have a unique texture, with about 16 vertical and 11 horizontal ridges. Some plants mimic this in order to discourage females from ovipositing on them.[2]

Larva

The caterpillar appearance is very discrete when young and has a small, dark prothoracic (link prothorax wiki) plate. As it matures, its appearance grows more colorful. In its 5^th instar, it has a white body with black and orange spots, black spikes, and a yellow head.

Pupa

The pupa resides on the stem.[2]

Imago

Adult males have androconial scales on the subcostal region of their hindwings and on their median membrane.[2]

Adults have a variety of phenotypes, all with red coloration. These include: dennis-ray pattern ("dennis" refers to a red patch on the forewing; "ray" refers to red lines on the hindwing)[8]; red coloration on the forewing with yellow on the hindwing; yellow coloration on the forewing and red on the hindwing; and white or yellow on the hindwing and forewing.[2] H. erato chestertonii is the only subspecies without any red markings, instead displaying blue coloring.

Adult wingspan ranges from about 6.7 to 8.0 cm.

Enemies

H. erato is preyed on by birds, lizards, monkeys, and mantids, but is relatively safe due to its unpalatability and protective coloration.

Protective coloration

Müllerian mimicry

H. erato is particularly distasteful to predators. Subspecies have evolved shared aposematic patterns with other species in order to deter common predators. They typically co-mimic with other species of Heliconius, most often H. melpomene, which matches with at least 20 of the 27 subspecies.[7][10] Subspecies have region-specific patterns that correspond to their regional mimics

H. erato chestertonii is unique as it displays blue colors on its wings while most other subspecies have red markings. Its pattern allows it to co-mimic with H. cydno gustavi.[4]

Variations from the geographical phenotype of subspecies are penalized by increased predation. In one study, researchers painted H. erato petiverana in Costa Rica to look like H. erato chestertonii from Columbia. These two subspecies successfully warn predators in their own regions with Müllerian patterns with H. melpomene rosina and H. cydno gustavi, respectively. However, the painted H. erato petiverana subjects suffered from increased predation: the H. erato chestertonii phenotype was found to be unfavorable in Costa Rica. This is because their markings did not match the Müllerian pattern of the area, so predators could not recognize their distastefulness.[4]

Genetics

Subspecies

List subspecies

Genetics of color patterns

The Optix gene encodes the complex red coloration of Heliconius wings. An approximately 50-kb area in the intergenic region near the gene is shared by H. erato and other Heliconius, which contains cis-regulatory elements that control expression of Optix.[8]

The clade containing Heliconius erato radiated before Heliconius melpomene, establishing the wing pattern diversity found in both species of butterfly. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA indicates quick convergent evolution of mimetic wing patterns among the subspecies. There is also a genetic divide between the subspecies on either side of the Andes mountains.[10]

Mating

Males scout out females during the day and often mate with females as they emerge from the chrysalis.[2] Females mate with only one male at a time and can reproduce throughout life.[7] All subspecies are potentially mate across subspecies, but interspecies offspring are not common. They only survive well in extremely specific hybrid regions and are unsuccessful everywhere else because their unusual recombinant phenotype attracts more predators.[10]

Pheromones

Adult males have androconial scales which serve to disseminate pheromones for attracting mates.[2]

The males also transfer an anti-aphrodisiac to the females during copulation that keeps other males from approaching her.[2][8] This odor can last for weeks, even months, and strongly resembles phenylcarbylamine, or witch hazel. [7]

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