Elzunia
Andrew V. Z. Brower
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close boxIntroduction
Members of Elzunia are among the largest ithomiines. The species occur in mid-elevation forest in the Venezuelan, Colombian and Ecuadorean Andes, where they are engaged in Müllerian mimicry with Heliconius hecuba, Heliconius atthis and Megoleria susiana, and perhaps serve as models for female Catonephele chromis (Biblidinae).
Larvae recorded on Prestonia (Apocynaceae), like members of closely-related Tithorea and unlike most other ithomiine larvae, which feed on Solanaceae. (Neild, 2008).Characteristics
Large ithomiines with relatively short wings. Wing color black with yellow or white spots and bands. Males have a single patch of elongated androconial scales on the costal margin of the dorsal hindwings (as opposed to two in Tithorea).May be distinguished from similar-looking Heliconius species by the more triangular forewings and the bilobed distal margin of the hindwing discal cell (teardrop-shaped in Heliconius).
References
Lamas G ed. 2004. Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part 4A Hesperioidea - Papiionoidea. Gainesville: Scientific Publishers/Association of Tropical Lepidoptera.
Neild, A.F.E. (2008) The Butterflies of Venezuela. Part 2: Nymphalidae II (Acraeinae, Libytheinae, NYmphalinae, Ithomiinae, Morphinae), Meridian Publications, London
Title Illustrations
| Scientific Name | Elzunia humboldt bomplandii |
|---|---|
| Location | Colombia: Antioquia, Monterredondo |
| Comments | Monterredondo 8/17/2010--70073 |
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Identified By | Kim Garwood |
| Life Cycle Stage | adult |
| View | ventral |
| Source | Elzunia humboldt bomplandii- Ventral |
| Source Collection | Flickr |
| Copyright | © 2010 Mike Chapman |
| Scientific Name | Elzunia pavonii |
|---|---|
| Location | Ecuador: Prov. Loja, Macará |
| Comments | DNA voucher E-12-1 from Brower et al. 2006. Head and thorax removed for DNA extraction. |
| Specimen Condition | Dead Specimen |
| Identified By | Andrew V. Z. Brower |
| Life Cycle Stage | adult |
| View | dorsal/ventral composite |
| Collection | Brower DNA voucher collection |
| Collector | Keith Willmott |
| Image Use |
 This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
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| Copyright |
© 2007
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About This Page
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA
Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Andrew V. Z. Brower at
Page copyright © 2011
Page: Tree of Life
Elzunia .
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Andrew V. Z. Brower.
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- First online 29 September 2006
- Content changed 24 July 2011
Citing this page:
Brower, Andrew V. Z. 2011. Elzunia . Version 24 July 2011 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Elzunia/27577/2011.07.24 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
