''Eueides isabella'', the Isabella's longwing or Isabella's heliconian, is a species of

nymphalid 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 red ...

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

, belonging to the

Heliconiinae The Heliconiinae, commonly called heliconians or longwings, are a subfamily of the brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They can be divided into 45–50 genera and were sometimes treated as a separate family Heliconiidae within the P ...

subfamily.

Description

''Eueides isabella'' is a large butterfly with a wingspan of . The uppersides of the wings is dark brown, with orange bands and yellowish markings on the edges of the forewings. The undersides of the wings are quite similar to the uppersides, but the edges of the hindwings show a series of small blue spots. The flight period extends to the whole year in the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

habitat. They are active even in low light. Caterpillars are white and black covered by long black spines. They are gregarious and they primarily feed on '' Passiflora platyloba'' and '' Passiflora ambigua''.

Distribution

This species can be found from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to the Amazon basin and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

."''Eueides'' Hübner, 1816"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

Habitat

''Eueides isabella'' lives in the rainforest where it remains in the canopy. It can be found from sea level to about 1500 m above sea level.

Subspecies

* ''E. i. isabella'' (

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

, Suriname,

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

) * ''E. i. arquata'' Stichel, 1903 ( Colombia) * ''E. i. cleobaea'' Geyer, 1832 (

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

) * ''E. i. dianasa'' (Hübner, 806 * ''E. i. dissoluta'' Stichel, 1903 ( Perú,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

) * ''E. i. dynastes'' C. et R. Felder, 1861 (

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, Colombia) * ''E. i. ecuadorensis'' Strand, 1909 (

) * ''E. i. eva'' (Fabricius, 1793) (

, Honduras,

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

) * ''E. i. hippolinus'' Butler, 1873 (

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

) * ''E. i. huebneri'' Ménétriés, 1857 (Colombia) * ''E. i. melphis'' (Godart, 1819) ( Haití,

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

) * ''E. i. nigricornis'' Maza, 1982 (

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

) * ''E. i.'' subspecies (Brazil)

Similar species

*'' Heliconius ismenius'' – tiger heliconian *''

Lycorea halia ''Lycorea halia'', the tropical milkweed butterfly (also known as tiger-mimic queen), is a species of nymphalid butterfly in the Danainae subfamily. It is found from Peru to the Caribbean and Mexico. Strays can be found as far north as Texas. T ...

'' – tiger mimic-queen *'' Eresia phyillyra'' – tiger heliconian *'' Mechanitis lysimnia'' – confused tigerwing *'' Mechanitis menapis'' – variable tigerwing *'' Mechanitis polymnia'' – disturbed tigerwing *'' Hypothyris lycaste'' – round-spotted ticlear *'' Hypothyris euclea'' – common ticlear File:Eueides isabella isabella MHNT.jpg, ''E. i. isabella'' - MHNT

References

Butterflies of America

Tree of Life
Heliconiini Butterflies of North America Butterflies of Central America Nymphalidae of South America Butterflies of Trinidad and Tobago Lepidoptera of the Caribbean Lepidoptera of Brazil Lepidoptera of Colombia Lepidoptera of French Guiana Lepidoptera of Venezuela Fauna of the Amazon Butterflies described in 1781 {{Heliconiinae-stub