Back to photostream

Postman-9849

Heliconius melpomene, the postman butterfly, common postman or simply postman, is a brightly colored butterfly found throughout Central and South America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Its coloration coevolved with a sister species H. erato as a warning to predators of its inedibility; this is an example of Müllerian mimicry. H. melpomene was one of the first butterfly species observed to forage for pollen, a behavior that is common in other groups but rare in butterflies

2,555 views
201 faves
13 comments
Uploaded on June 21, 2023
Taken on June 2, 2023