Heliconius heurippa

Taxobox
name = "Heliconius heurippa"


image_width =
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
unranked_familia = Rhopalocera
superfamilia = Papilionoidea
familia = Nymphalidae
subfamilia = Heliconiinae
genus = "Heliconius"
species = "H. heurippa"
binomial = "Heliconius heurippa"
binomial_authority = (Hewitson, 1854)

"Heliconius heurippa" is a butterfly of the genus "Heliconius" that is believed to be a separate species from—but a hybrid of—the species "Heliconius cydno" and "Heliconius melpomene", making "H. heurippa" an example of hybrid speciation. [cite journal |author=Salazar CA, Jiggins CD, Arias CF, Tobler A, Bermingham E, Linares M |title=Hybrid incompatibility is consistent with a hybrid origin of Heliconius heurippa Hewitson from its close relatives, Heliconius cydno Doubleday and Heliconius melpomene Linnaeus |journal=J. Evol. Biol. |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=247–56 |year=2005 |pmid=15715831 |doi=10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00839.x] [cite journal |author=Mallet J, Beltrán M, Neukirchen W, Linares M |title=Natural hybridization in heliconiine butterflies: the species boundary as a continuum |journal=BMC Evol. Biol. |volume=7 |issue= |pages=28 |year=2007 |pmid=17319954 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-7-28]

Range

"H. heurippa" is found on the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains in Colombia.cite web |url=http://www.tolweb.org/Heliconius_heurippa/72255 |title=Tree of Life Project: "Heliconius heurippa" |accessdate=2008-02-27 |format= |work=]

Hybridation

The color pattern of "H. heurippa" appears to be a combination of the patterns found on "H. cydno" and "H. melpomene". Natural hybrids from San Cristóbal, Táchira, Venezuela, display wing patterns very similar to "H. heurippa", supporting the hypothesis of a hybrid origin for the species.cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5080298.stm |title=BBC NEWS: Two species become one in the lab | Science/Nature | Two species become one in the lab |accessdate=2008-02-27 |format= |work=]

A team from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama attempted to recreate "H. heurippa" by breeding "H. cydno" with "H. melpomene".cite web |url=http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/614/2 |title=Putting One and One Together |accessdate=2008-02-27 |format= |work=] In only three generations of hybridization, the investigators developed butterflies with wing patterns almost identical to those of "H. heurippa"cite journal |author=Mavárez J, Salazar CA, Bermingham E, Salcedo C, Jiggins CD, Linares M |title=Speciation by hybridization in Heliconius butterflies |journal=Nature |volume=441 |issue=7095 |pages=868–71 |year=2006 |pmid=16778888 |doi=10.1038/nature04738] that may be very similar to the first "H. heurippa" individuals.

Butterflies within "Heliconius" are "extremely choosey" about finding mates with wing patterns that match their own,cite web |url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060616135623.htm |title=Butterfly Speciation Event Recreated |accessdate=2008-02-27 |format= |work=] and "H. heurippa"

H. heurippa males given a choice between mating with females of H. heurippa, H. cydno, or H. melpomene species were 75 to 90 percent more likely to choose their own kind, and similarly discriminating when presented with photographs of wing patterns instead of actual mates. The wing patterns of "H. heurippa" individuals also make them undesirable as mates for members of their parents' species as well, demonstrating evidence of reproductive isolation between "H. heurippa" and its putative parental species.cite web |url=http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/mg19025564.200-hybrids-when-two-species-become-three.html |title=Hybrids: When two species become three - life - 15 June 2006 - New Scientist |accessdate=2008-02-27 |format= |work=]

Skeptics wish to see further genetic sequencing demonstrating that wild "H. heurippa" is a hybrid similar to the laboratory-developed animals. There is evidence to suggest that the genome of "H. heurippa" may be a mosaic.

The species "Heliconius timareta" and "Heliconius pachinus"cite journal |author=Kronforst MR, Salazar C, Linares M, Gilbert LE |title=No genomic mosaicism in a putative hybrid butterfly species |journal=Proc. Biol. Sci. |volume=274 |issue=1615 |pages=1255–64 |year=2007 |pmid=17374598 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2006.0207] are also proposed to result from hybridization of "H. cydno" and "H. melpomene".

References