Diet

• Caterpillars feed primarily on passionvines (Passiflora spp.).

• Eggs are laid singly on young growth, and the caterpillars feed on the leaves.

• Adults visit a wide variety of flowers for nectar, including lantana and other flowering herbs and shrubs.

Range

• The Julia Heliconian has a broad distribution from Mexico through Central America and the Caribbean and southward through much of South America to Brazil and Paraguay.

• It is widespread in Guerrero and occurs in the Zihua area, particularly where passionvines and flowering vegetation are present.

Habitat

• It favours sunny openings and edges of tropical and subtropical woodland, including forest margins, clearings, secondary vegetation, fields, gardens, and roadsides.

• It can also occur within more heavily forested regions along rivers and other natural or disturbed openings.

• In the Zihua region, sunny forest edges and areas supporting Passiflora are particularly good places to look for it.

Description

• A large, slender longwing with a wingspan of approximately 82–92 mm.

• The male is strikingly bright orange, with elongated forewings and a relatively narrow black border along the outer edge of the hindwings.

• The forewings have several small black markings, while the female is generally duller orange and more heavily marked with black, particularly on the forewings.

• The underside is paler orange to brownish, with subdued markings that provide some camouflage when the butterfly is resting.

• The elongated wings and brilliant orange coloration distinguish it from the somewhat broader-winged Gulf Fritillary (Dione vanillae), which has prominent silvery spots on the underside.

• The Julia Heliconian is also notable for its graceful, relatively fast flight through the middle levels of vegetation and along forest edges.