Heliconius Melpomeme, Mexico and the
Amazon Basin
The Postman butterfly is also known as the Crimson-patched Longwing and
is known to populate the world from Mexico to the Amazon Basin and Central
America to Brazil in the neo tropical habitats of the openings and edges
of the rainforest. This species commonly flies low over the ground along
the edges of woods.
The Postman is typical of a large number of similar butterflies limited
to the American Tropics. Heliconius melpomene is a poisonous butterfly
of the Family: Nymphalidae and the Pupa Subfamily: Heliconiinae that feeds
on the host plant passion flower foliage in the larva stage of life. The
passiflora passion vine plant (talamancenis, coreacea and biflora) is
suspected of rendering them distasteful to predators. Over time this forms
the basis of mimicry complexes whereby butterflies and moths of several
families fool their predators and gain collective protection because of
similar appearance.
Longwings stay alive as adult butterflies for several months feeding on
the proteins concentrated in pollen, necessary for their long-term egg
production, while other butterflies are not known to feed on pollen.
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