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Heliconiinae Swainson 1822

Niklas Wahlberg and Andrew V. Z. Brower
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taxon links [up-->]Acraeini [up-->]Argynnini [up-->]Cethosia [up-->]Heliconiini [up-->]Vagrantini Monophyly Uncertain[down<--]Nymphalidae Interpreting the tree
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Containing group: Nymphalidae

Introduction

The subfamily Heliconiinae is composed of a diverse group of species distributed widely in the New and Old World tropics, and it also includes the largely Holarctic fritillaries (Argynnini). Many species in Heliconiini and Acraeini sequester and/or synthesize cyanogenic glucosides, which render them unpalatable to predators. As a result, they act as Müllerian mimics or models for palatable Batesian species in other groups.

References

Brower, A. V. Z. 2000. Phylogenetic relationships among the Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera), inferred from partial sequences of the wingless gene. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences 267:1201-1211.

Freitas, A. V. L., and K. S. J. Brown. 2004. Phylogeny of the Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). Systematic Biology 53:363-383.

Penz, C., and D. Peggie. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships among Heliconiinae genera based on morphology (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Systematic Entomology 28:451-479.

Silva-Brandão, K. L., Wahlberg, N., Francini, R. B., Azeredo-Espin, A. M. L., Brown, K. S. J., Paluch, M., Lees, D. C. & Freitas, A. V. L. 2008. Phylogenetic relationships of butterflies of the tribe Acraeini (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Heliconiinae) and the evolution of host plant use. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46, 515-531.

Wahlberg, N., E. Weingartner, and S. Nylin. 2003. Towards a better understanding of the higher systematics of Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 28:473-484.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Location captive
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Cethosia biblis
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2008 Luciano Giussani
Scientific Name Argynnis paphia
Location Cévennes, Terre Blanche, France
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Argynnis paphia, Terre Blanche, 2006
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Pierre Claveirole
Scientific Name Actinote discrepans
Location Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Comments Actinote discrepans photographed in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in April 2010.
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Borboleta (Actinote discrepans)
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2010 Cláudio Dias Timm
Scientific Name Heliconius hecale
Location Bedford Butterfly Park
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Hacales Longwing
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Bill Hails
About This Page

Niklas Wahlberg
University of Turku, Finland


Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Niklas Wahlberg at and Andrew V. Z. Brower at

Page: Tree of Life Heliconiinae Swainson 1822. Authored by Niklas Wahlberg and Andrew V. Z. Brower. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 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:

Wahlberg, Niklas and Andrew V. Z. Brower. 2008. Heliconiinae Swainson 1822. Version 19 March 2008 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Heliconiinae/12194/2008.03.19 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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