''Heliconius hecuba'', the Hecuba longwing, is a species of
butterfly of the family
Nymphalidae. It lives at altitudes ranging from 1000 to 2400 m in
cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...
s in the northern Andes from Colombia to Ecuador.
[''Heliconius hecuba'']
EoL
The butterfly is named for
Hecuba, the wife of King
Priam
In Greek mythology, Priam (; grc-gre, Πρίαμος, ) was the legendary and last king of Troy during the Trojan War. He was the son of Laomedon. His many children included notable characters such as Hector, Paris, and Cassandra.
Etymology
Mo ...
of ancient
Troy.
The
larvae feed on plants from the genus ''
Granadilla''.
[
]
Subspecies
Listed alphabetically:[
*''H. h. bonplandi'' Neukirchen, 1991 (Ecuador)
*''H. h. cassandra'' C. & R. Felder, 1862 (Colombia)
*''H. h. choarina'' Hewitson, 1872 (Ecuador)
*''H. h. creusa'' H. & R. Holzinger, 1989 (Colombia)
*''H. h. crispus'' Staudinger, 1885 (Colombia)
*''H. h. flava'' Brown, 1979 (Ecuador)
*''H. h. hecuba'' Hewitson, 1858 (Colombia)
*''H. h. lamasi'' Neukirchen, 1991 (Ecuador)
*''H. h. salazari'' Neukirchen, 1993 (Colombia)
*''H. h. tolima'' Fassl, 1912 (Colombia)
*''H. h. walteri'' Salazar, 1998 (Colombia)
]
References
hecuba
Nymphalidae of South America
Butterflies described in 1853
{{Heliconiinae-stub