Melinaea marsaeus mothone (Hewitson, 1860) - male

Unknown artist

At the needle there is a label of determination The species Melinaea marsaeus is widespread in South America, from Colombia and Ecuador to Peru and Brazil (Acre, Amazonas and Rondônia states). It is found in primary and secondary wet forests. The larvae develop on different toxic species of the Solanaceae family. The adults have toxic hemolymph, the drawing on their wings to signal to potential predators that this species is inedible. These butterflies imitate the appearance of other toxic species (such as Heliconius called bicoloratus Butler, 1873 and Mechanitis messenoides dying Butler, 1873), reinforcing the message for potential predators, according to which this drawing is characteristic of some inedible species (mimetism müllerian).