Heliconius hecale perched on a leaf in the butterfly garden of the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.
Pictured is a side view of Heliconius hecale perched on a leaf in the butterfly garden of the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens in Fort Worth, Texas. It is also known as the tiger longwing, Hecale longwing, golden longwing or golden heliconian. The are many subspecies. Its coloration coevolved with another member of the genus, Heliconius erato as a warning to predators of its inedibility, and example of Mullerian mimicry. In Greek mythology, Hecale was an old woman to gave shelter to Theseus on his way to capture the Marathonian Bull.
View Full Image on Dreamstime
Keywords:
sideviewheliconiushecaleperchedleafbutterflygardenfortworthbotanicgardenstexastigerlongwinggoldenheliconiansubspeciescolorationcoevolvedmembergenuseratowarningpredatorsinedibilitymullerianmimicrygreekmythologyoldwomangavesheltertheseuscapturemarathonianbull
Username: Djpillow
Editorial: No
Width: 7200 pixels
Height: 5100 pixels
Downloads: 0
Image ID: 310870596