Heliconius spp.

TIGER-STRIPE BUTTERFLY

Mariopsa tigre (S) Pépen (M)

Identification: Heliconius butterflies have teardrop-shaped wings striped with bands of black and white or yellow and orange; the underside of the wing is plainly colored (DeVries 1987).

Habitat: They can often be seen along roadsides and the forest’s edge (DeVries 1987).

Range: They range from the southern states in the United States down through South American and the West Indies (DeVries 1987).

Similar species: There are seven forms of Heliconius ismenius (found within its range; H. i. telchinia ranges through Alto Vera Paz, Tucurú, Guatemala (D’Aberra 1984).

TIGER-STRIPES, with their bold and colorful wings, fend off predators by means of their foul taste. When birds or other predators eat tiger-stripes, they often regurgitate them due to the toxic taste. Tiger-stripes benefit from the sacrifice of a few as predators learn that yellow-, orange-, and black-striped butterflies taste bad. Other butterflies that resemble Heliconius also benefit from their bad taste: the more other butterflies evolve to look like tiger-stripes, the less likely predators will bother them. Many animals and reptiles defend themselves by mimicking the colors and patterns of similar species (DeVries 1987).

Adult tier-stripes eat the pollen of Passiflora flowers and of other flowers. They remain in the vicinity of and defend certain plants for the nine months of their life—an unusually long time for butterflies. When food sources are slow, they guard the flowers by chasing off other butterflies (DeVries 1987). The species of tiger-stripe Heliconius ismenius ranges from Central America down to western Venezuela and Colombia to northwestern Peru. They like hot, humid climates from 100 to 1,00 m (D’Abrera 1984).