Heliconius erato or melpomene ?

[Paul K]

Collected in French Guiana in February, I have really hard time with this one, I am towards melpomene ?

[deliasfanatic]

This is erato:

1) The light upper area on HW recto is much lighter on melpomene than on erato (it's more of a creamy light brown, not dusky as it is here). This is true for all subspecies;

2) On ssp with a large FW patch such as you have here, erato's patch is generally broader and more regular (even though the edges are quite irregular). On melpomene, the lower, outermost point that is closest to the wing edge is usually elongated into a "snout" and typically has the vein contained within that area more prominent.

[Paul K]

Great, thank you

[jmg]

Seems to be H. erato hydara Hewitson, 1867

"The light upper area on HW recto is much lighter on melpomene than on erato (it's more of a creamy light brown, not dusky as it is here). This is true for all subspecies "

As far I know, the colour of the upper area on HW is also a matter of sex : white for males, dark for females.

Wikipedia : "Two features found on the underside help to distinguish H. erato from H. melpomene—H. erato has four red dots where the wing attaches to the thorax while H. melpomene has three and the yellowish white stripe on the underside reaches the margin of the hindwing in H. erato but ends early in H. melpomene. "

In French Guyane, H. melpomene is always to be found near water streams or ponds ; H. erato everywhere.

See the page : cliniquevetodax.com/Heliconius/pages/melpo%2520vs%2520erato.html

And check our issues :

www.lepido-france.fr/monographies/lepidopteres-de-guyane-tome-2-rhopaloceres-1/
www.lepido-france.fr/monographies/lepidopteres-de-guyane-volume-3/