Heliconius hortense, the Mexican longwing, Mexican heliconian or mountain longwing, is a heliconiid butterfly.
The basic color of the uppersides of the wings is black, with a vertical white band on the forewings and an horizontal red band on the hindwings. The undersides are dark brown, with a white band on the forewings and a few red spots at the base of the hindwings. The adults feed on pollens and live up to six months. Females usually lay yellow eggs singly on shoots of various host plants, mainly Passiflora species, of which caterpillars primarily feed.
Heliconius hortense occurs in eastern and western Mexico and from Honduras to Ecuador.
This species can be found in cloud forest from sea level to 2300 m.
The Mexican Longwing Butterfly is native to southern Mexico and northern Central America. It is sometimes called the Mountain Longwing although it is not found only in mountain areas. It looks similar to the butterfly shown on this page but HAS WHITE BARS ON THE FOREWING instead of pink and they have a particular pattern that differs a little from those shown.
They could also be hybrids of H. himera and the Small Postman.
They may also be a related mimic species or other heliconian hybrids that fly in the same regions.
