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Elzunia Bryk 1937

Andrew V. Z. Brower
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taxon links [up-->]Elzunia humboldt [up-->]Elzunia pavonii [down<--]Ithomiini Interpreting the tree
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Containing group: Ithomiini

Introduction

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
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
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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 creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2007
About This Page


Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Andrew V. Z. Brower at

Page: Tree of Life Elzunia Bryk 1937. Authored by Andrew V. Z. Brower. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Brower, Andrew V. Z. 2011. Elzunia Bryk 1937. Version 24 July 2011 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Elzunia/27577/2011.07.24 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

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