Heliconius ismenius

Heliconius ismenius (Heliconius ismenius)

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

Genus – heliconius

Appearance

Caterpillars are white with black spots and spines, and have orange anal plates and heads. The wingspan of the butterfly is 70-90 mm. The dorsal wing surface is covered in thick black and orange stripes. The forewing tips are black and covered in white spots. The ventral wing surface pattern is identical, but lighter in color.

Habitat

Heliconius ismenius is found throughout southern Central America and parts of northern South America.

Behavior

The insects are active from dawn to noon. Butterflies are poisonous. During the night, it is common that the adults form groups 3 to 10 meters above the ground. These groups are normally located along the forest edges on branches and tendrils of the host plants and trees.

Diet

Caterpillars feed on passion vines (Passifloraceae). Butterflies feed on flower nectar. The females eat pollen.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. Females lay one or two eggs on the antennae of the forage plant. The eggs are small and yellow approximately 1.3 mm (height) x 0.8 mm (width). The incubation period is 7-10 days. It is better to keep the caterpillars in terrariums of 6-8 pieces. In the terrarium, you need to place a forage plant. Temperature in the place for keeping them is 22-25 ^oC at the humidity of 65-75%. The pupae are brown in color and contain an average of three gold colored spots on the pupae dorsum. 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.