Reino: Animalia
Filo: Arthropoda
Clase: Insecta
Orden: Lepidoptera
Suborden: Ditrysia
División: Rhopalocera
Superfamilia: Papilionoidea
Familia: Nymphalidae
Subfamilia: Heliconiinae
Género: Heliconius
Binominal name: Heliconius antiochus - Linnaeus 1767
Heliconius antiochus is a member of the sara-sapho group, and a Müllerian mimic of Heliconius wallacei, H. sara and H. congener. The wings are blue-black, with two transverse white or yellow bands on the distal part of the forewings.
Adult Characteristics: H. antiochus adults may be distinguished from mimics by the pattern of red basal spots and streaks on the ventral surface of the hindwing.
Early stages: Eggs are yellow and approximately 1.1 x 0.8 mm (h x w). Females usually place 5 to 40 eggs on growing shoots of the host plant. Mature larvae have a yellow body with black scoli and head; length is around 1.2 cm. Caterpillars are gregarious (Brown, 1981)
Habits: H. antiochus occurs from sea level to 1,000 m in riparian forest. Usually individuals fly slowly and in the canopy. The males sit on female pupae a day before emergence, and mating occurs the next morning, before the female has completely eclosed. Adults roost at night in large groups on twigs or tendrils over water (Brown, 1981).
Host plant: H. antiochus larvae feed primarily on plants from the genus Passiflora, subgenus Astrophea (Brown, 1981).
