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Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Eanes Longwing
Eueides heliconioides
FELDER & FELDER,
1861
Family -
NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
HELICONIINAE
Tribe - HELICONIINI
Eueides heliconioides, Rio Madre de
Dios, Peru
Introduction
The tribe
Heliconiini, colloquially known as Longwings,
includes 71 species, all confined exclusively to the neotropics. The butterflies are
characterised by possessing distinctively patterned elongated forewings and a
delicate fluttering flight.
The Heliconiini includes
the genus
Heliconius
( 39 species ), together with the smaller genera Dryas,
Agraulis, Dryadula, Eueides, Neruda, Laparus,
Philaethria,
Dione
and Podotricha.
The 12 Eueides species are
similar to other Heliconiines but smaller in size. Some such as
isabella
are mimics of tiger-complex Ithomiines, while others including aliphera
and lineata
are very similar to Dryas and
Dione
in appearance. A few such as
vibilia
closely resemble Actinote
species.
Eueides heliconioides
falls into yet another group which strongly resemble
Laparus doris. To further confuse matters the butterfly was
known by the name Heliconius eanes
until the 1970's!
A
major characteristic which helps to distinguish
Eueides
from similar taxa is the shape and length of the antennae - in Eueides
these are never more than half the length of the costa; in Actinote
they are about the same length but are very strongly clubbed. In the
tiger-complex Ithomiines they are long, tapered, cream in colour and dropping.
In Heliconius
and Laparus
they are about two-thirds the length of the costa, and erect.
The
underside of heliconioides is similar to that of Laparus doris,
but in that species there are white lines radiating to the outer margin of the
hindwings, and there is an additional subapical white bar on the forewings.
Eueides
heliconioides occurs
in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
Eueides heliconioides, Manu
cloudforest, 1700m, Peru
Habitats
This is a lowland and mid-elevation rainforest species, occurring at altitudes
between 100-1800m.
Lifecycle
I have no data relating to
heliconioides,
but the following generalisations apply to the genus
Eueides
and are probably relevant : The
eggs are greenish white and laid singly on the underside of leaves. The
caterpillars are variously coloured but share the characteristics of having a
bold lateral stripe, branched spines on the back and sides, and prominent head
spines. They feed on the older leaves of
Passiflora
( Passifloraceae ) and
Erbilichia (
Turneraceae ).
The
pupae are pale in colour, marked with black specks, and have 4 short
forward-pointing spines on the back of the abdomen.
Adult behaviour
Males visit damp sandbanks,
peccary wallows, muddy puddles and the edges of small pools and
lagoons to imbibe moisture from which they extract dissolved
minerals. These are probably passed to females during copulation,
and may be essential in the production of viable eggs.
Both sexes
occasionally visit Lantana and Psiguria flowers, but spend
most of their time high in the forest canopy.
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