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Heliconius numata (Cramer 1780)

Margarita Beltrán
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Containing group: Heliconius

Characteristics

Early stages:  Eggs are yellow and approximately 1.4 x 0.9 mm (h x w). Females usually place 1 to 2 eggs on growing shoots and tendrils of the host plant. Mature larvae have a white body and black spots, black scoli, and head and anal cap are orange; length is around 2 cm. Caterpillars are gregarious in small numbers (Brown, 1981).

Geographical Distribution

Heliconius numata is distributed from Venezuela to South Brazil. The map below shows an approximate representation of the geographic distribution of this species. The original data used to draw these maps are derived from Brown (1979) which is available at Keith S. Brown Jr. (1979). Ecological Geography and Evolution in Neotropical Forests.

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Distribution of Heliconius numata. © 2002 Margarita Beltran.

Habits

H. numata occurs from sea level to 1,800 m in tall forests.  Usually individuals fly rapidly in the middlestory.  Females mate multiply and adults roost solitarily or in small groups at night at 2-10 m above ground on twigs or tendrils.

Hostplant: H. numata larvae feed primarily on plants from the subgenera Granadilla, Astrophea and Distephana (Passifloraceae) and from the genera Dilkea and Tetrastylis (Brown, 1981).  

References

Brown K. S. 1981 The Biology of Heliconius and Related Genera. Annual Review of Entomology 26, 427-456.

Cramer, Pieter [1721_1776] 1780. De uitlandische Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen Asia, Africa en America. Papillons exotiques des trois parties du monde l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amérique. Amsteldam, S. J. Baalde; Utrecht, Barthelemy Wild and J. Van Schoonho-ven & Comp. 4(25/26): 1-28, pls. 289-304.

Information on the Internet

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Heliconius numata silvana
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
View Dorsal
Collection Gerardo Lamas
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
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Scientific Name Heliconius numata silvana
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
View Ventral
Collection Gerardo Lamas
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Heliconius numata bicoloratus
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
View Dorsal
Collection Gerardo Lamas
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Heliconius numata bicoloratus
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
View Ventral
Collection Gerardo Lamas
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Heliconius numata tarapotensis tarapotensis
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
View Dorsal
Collection Gerardo Lamas
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Heliconius numata tarapotensis tarapotensis
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
View Ventral
Collection Gerardo Lamas
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
About This Page


University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Margarita Beltrán at

Page: Tree of Life Heliconius numata (Cramer 1780). Authored by Margarita Beltrán. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Beltrán, Margarita. 2008. Heliconius numata (Cramer 1780). Version 12 August 2008 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Heliconius_numata/72894/2008.08.12 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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