Heliconius hecale, the tiger longwing, Hecale longwing, golden longwing or golden heliconian, is a heliconiid butterfly that occurs from Mexico to the Peruvian Amazon. Hecale, was an old woman who gave shelter to Theseus on his way to capture the Marathonian Bull.
Tiger longwings (Heliconius hecale), can be found in Central America and further south in the Amazon. They are part of the most important tropical butterfly group for the study of diversity and genetics.
There are around 40 species in the Heliconius group, and they all have long wings with a variety of simple, striking patterns, often with a black background.
Longwings copy the patterns of more poisonous butterflies © That_Bee, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Each wing pattern has been tweaked by evolution to help the creature survive. Many of the longwings copy the patterns of related butterflies.
All the species thrive in the same range of environments and geographical areas. And the tiger longwings protect themselves from predators by mimicking the patterns of other, poisonous species very closely.
This mimicry changes depending on geographical area, but the tiger longwings are known to copy the ithomiine butterfly (Tithorea tarricina). Another black and orange species, it carries alkaloids in its body that make it distasteful to predators.
Birds end up avoiding both species because they are unable to spot the differences between them.
Vivid orange and black, tiger longwings are masterful copycats, using their bright colours to survive.
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