Heliconius doris

Heliconius doris(Heliconius doris)

Phylum —arthropoda
Class —insecta
Order — lepidoptera
Family —nymphalidae

Genus –heliconius

Appearance

The caterpillars are yellow with black bands.

Heliconius dorisoccurs in different color forms. The forewings are black with two white patches. The hindwings are black and, depending on the form, blue, red, or green. Their wingspan measures 7–9 cm.

Habitat

Heliconius dorisis distributed from Central America to the Amazon.

Behavior

It demonstrates daily activity. Butterflies are poisonous. Adults have a rapid flight and can be found in forest clearings.

Caterpillars are gregarious. Pupation of the caterpillars takes place in one place.

Diet

The larvae primarily feed on granadilla species.

Butterflies feed on flower nectar.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. Females gather together and usually each one places eggs to a total of 50 to 1000 in leaves of the host plant. Several females may lay their eggs on the same leaf. Eggs are yellow and approximately 1.1 x 0.8 mm (h x w).The incubation period is 4-7 days.It is better to keep the caterpillars in mesh terrariums of 10-20 pieces. In the terrarium, you need to place a forage plant. Temperature in the terrarium is 22-25 ^oC at the humidity of 60-70%. Pupae are reddish-brown, without spines.The life cycle takes a little more than a month. Butterflies live up to 6 months.

In captivity

The mesh terrarium with a size of 50 × 50 × 70 mm is suitable for keeping butterflies. Room temperature is necessary. Daylight time is 12 hours. You can feed butterflies with honey syrup diluted with boiled water in a ratio of 1: 10 and flower pollen.