From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heliconius comprise a colorful and widespread butterfly genus distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the New World. These butterflies have been a subject of many studies due to their abundance and relative ease in breeding under laboratory conditions as well as due to the extensive mimicry that occurs in this group. Studying this model group is helping scientists to understand how species are formed and why they are so diverse.They are usually unpalatable and are models for Müllerian mimicry by unrelated butterflies. Hybrid speciation has been found to occur in this genus.
Heliconius Research Worldwide
