Heliconius antiochus

Heliconius antiochus, the Antiochus longwing, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1767. It is found from Panama to the Amazon region. The habitat consists of riparian forests.

The synonym Papilio antiochus was also applied (invalidly) to the species now known as Catonephele acontius

Heliconius antiochus
Dorsal view
Ventral view
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Heliconius
Species:
H. antiochus
Binomial name
Heliconius antiochus
Synonyms
  • Papilio antiochus Linnaeus, 1767 (nec Fabricius)
  • Heliconius zobeide Butler, 1869
  • Heliconius antiochus ab. divisus Staudinger, [1897]
  • Heliconius antiochus ab. alba Riffarth, 1900
  • Heliconius antiochus alba ab. trimaculata Krüger, 1933
  • Papilio aranea Fabricius, 1793
  • Heliconius salvinii Dewitz, 1877
  • Heliconius antiochus var. araneides Staudinger, 1897

Adults have blue-black wings with two transverse white or yellow bands on the distal part of the forewings. They are a Müllerian mimic of Heliconius wallacei, Heliconius sara and Heliconius congener.

The larvae are gregarious and mostly feed on Passiflora species from the subgenus Astrophea. Full-grown larvae have a yellow body with a black head and reach a length of about 12 mm.[2]

Subspecies
  • Heliconius antiochus antiochus (Venezuela to Peru)
  • Heliconius antiochus aranea (Fabricius, 1793) (Venezuela)
  • Heliconius antiochus araneides Staudinger, 1897 (Venezuela)
  • Heliconius antiochus salvinii Dewitz, 1877 (Venezuela)

References
  1. "Heliconius Kluk, 1780" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. TOL


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