Wallace's longwing | |
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Dorsal view | |
Ventral view | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Nymphalidae |
Genus: | Heliconius |
Species: | H. wallacei |
Binomial name | |
Heliconius wallacei (Reakirt, 1866) |
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Synonyms | |
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Heliconius wallacei, the Wallace's longwing, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It was described by Tryon Reakirt in 1866. It is found from Venezuela and Trinidad to southern Brazil and Peru. The habitat consists of lowland rainforests.
The wingspan is 70–75 mm.
The larvae are gregarious and mostly feed on Passiflora species from the subgenus Distephana. Full-grown larvae have a maroon body and a brown head and reach a length of about 10 mm.