Heliconius cydno

Heliconius cydno(Heliconius cydno)

Phylum —arthropoda
Class —insecta
Order — lepidoptera
Family —nymphalidae

Genus –heliconius

Appearance

The younger caterpillars are yellow with black spines. Later-stage caterpillars are reddish brown with black spots and an orange head.

Adults have forewings and hindwings which are black with either yellow or white bands/spots. Their hindwings have bars on their ventral surface, distinguishing themselves from mimics. Wing coloration is dependent on location. The wingspan of the butterfly is 70-80 mm.

Habitat

Heliconius cydno is distributed in Central America south to Venezuela, and Ecuador.

Behavior

It demonstrates daily activity. Butterflies are poisonous. The flight is slow and easy. These insects protect the flowers from butterflies of other species. When being attacked, they emit a substance with an acridrepulsive smell. Butterflies spend the night singly at an altitude of 2 to 10 meters. Caterpillars are gregarious in small numbers.

Diet

Caterpillars feed on passion vines (family: Passifloraceae).

Butterflies feed on flower nectar. Females eat pollen, preferring red and orange flowers.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. Females usually place eggs singly on growing shoots and tendrils of the host plant. Eggs are yellow and approximately 1.1 x 0.9 mm (h x w).The incubation period is 7-10 days.It is better to keep the caterpillars in terrariums of 6-8 pieces. In the terrarium, you need to place a forage plant. Temperature in the terrarium is 22-25 ^oC at the humidity of 60-70%. Pupae are dark brown with two rectangular gold patches on the thorax and have antennae with long spines, and long spines on the abdomen. The life cycle takes a little more than a month. Butterflies live up to 6 months.

It is a species well known and widely researched for its tendency to hybridize with the closely related Heliconius melpomene.

In captivity

The mesh terrarium with a size of 50 × 50 × 70 mm is suitable for keeping butterflies. Room temperature is necessary. Daylight time is 12 hours. You can feed butterflies with honey syrup diluted with boiled water in a ratio of 1: 10 and flower pollen.