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Heliconius Himera
''Heliconius'' comprises a colorful and widespread genus of Nymphalidae, 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 as far north as the southern United States. The larvae of these butterflies eat passion flower vines (Passifloraceae). Adults exhibit bright wing color patterns which signal their distastefulness to potential predators. Brought to the forefront of scientific attention by Victorian naturalists, these butterflies exhibit a striking diversity and Batesian mimicry, mimicry, both amongst themselves and with species in other groups of butterflies and moths. The study of ''Heliconius'' and other groups of mimetic butterflies allowed the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, following his return from Brazil in 1859, to lend support to Charles Darwin, who had found similar diversity amongst the Galápagos finches. Model for evoluti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heliconius Numata
''Heliconius numata'', the Numata longwing, is a brush-footed butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae, 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. 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 mimic each other's honest warning signals, to their mutual benefit. The benefit to Müllerian mimics is that predators only need one unpleasant encounter with one member of a set of Müllerian mimics, and thereafter avoid all similar coloration, whether or not it belongs to the same species as the initial encounter. It is named after the German naturalist Fritz Müller, who first proposed the concept in 1878, supporting his theory with the first mathematical model of frequency-dependent selection, one of the first such models anywhere in biology. Müllerian mimicry was first identified in tropical butterflies that shared colourful wing patterns, but it is found in many groups of insects such as bumblebees, and other animals including poison frogs and coral snakes. The mimicry need not be visual; for example, many snakes share a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mimicry
In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry functions to protect a species from predators, making it an anti-predator adaptation. Mimicry evolves if a receiver (such as a predator) perceives the similarity between a mimic (the organism that has a resemblance) and a model (the organism it resembles) and as a result changes its behaviour in a way that provides a selective advantage to the mimic. The resemblances that evolve in mimicry can be visual, acoustic, chemical, tactile, or electric, or combinations of these sensory modalities. Mimicry may be to the advantage of both organisms that share a resemblance, in which case it is a form of mutualism; or mimicry can be to the detriment of one, making it parasitic or competitive. The evolutionary convergence between groups is driven by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas '' homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different traits. Convergent evolution is similar to parallel evo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melinaea
''Melinaea'' is a genus of clearwing ( ithomiine) butterflies. They are in the brush-footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae. Species Arranged alphabetically: at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' *'''' (Godart, 1819) *'''' (Felder & Felder, 1862) *'''' Forbes, 1948< ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melitaeini
Melitaeini are a group of brush-footed butterflies. Usually classified as a tribe of the Nymphalinae, they are sometimes raised to subfamily status as Melitaeinae. Common names include the highly ambiguous fritillaries (also used for some Heliconiinae), checkerspots, crescents, or crescentspots, and some genus-specific names. Genera The 20–25 genera of Melitaeini are divided among five subtribes; some species are also listed. The subtribes, in the presumed phylogenetic sequence, are:See references in Savela (2010) Subtribe Euphydryina * ''Euphydryas'' – fritillaries, checkerspots Subtribe Melitaeina * ''Melitaea'' – fritillaries (including ''Didymaeformis'', ''Mellicta'') Subtribe Chlosynina * '' Antillea'' Higgins, 959/small> * '' Atlantea'' Higgins, 959/small> * ''Chlosyne'' – checkerspots, patches * '' Dymasia'' Higgins, 1960 * '' Higginsius'' Hemming, 1964 (tentatively placed here; Gnathotrichina?) * ''Microtia'' Bates, 1864 * '' Poladryas'' Bauer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papilio Zagreus
''Papilio zagreus'' is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae (swallowtails). It is found in South America, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and western Brazil. Description A powerfully built insect with strong neuration in the forewing. The frons is either quite black or bears a yellow mesial line, never a yellow lateral streak along the eye. The antennae are long, yellow, with thin club; the frons has a yellow mesial stripe, the breast is diagonally streaked with yellow, the abdomen is for the most part yellow, the costal margin of the forewing is not dentate, the cell of the forewing is broad and the hindwing is rounded, without a tail. The spots of the forewing orange, the marginal ones yellow; hindwing orange, a marginal band enclosing a yellow submarginal spot, a basal subcostal area, a patch in the extremity of the cell, as well as several spots on the disc, black. The wingspan is 110–130 mm. Biology ''Papilio zagreus'' is a palatable Batesian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
