Doris Longwing

Heliconius doris · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae

Also called: Dot-bordered Heliconian

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Doris Longwing
Photo: Emily Turteltaub Nelson, CC BY

The Doris Longwing butterfly shows many colour forms and joins several Müllerian mimicry groups across Central America and the Amazon rainforest. It lives in forest clearings from sea level up to about 1200 m. Caterpillars eat granadilla plants, while adults sip nectar from Lantana and collect pollen from Psiguria and Psychotia flowers.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

This species is highly polymorphic and participates in many Müllerian mimicry rings in its range.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It is found in forest clearings from sea level up to 1200 m elevation.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae feed on granadilla species. Adults feed on Lantana nectar; females also gather pollen from Psiguria and Psychotia flowers.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range includes Central America and the Amazon rainforest.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

It resembles other butterflies in the mimicry rings it joins.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Doris Longwing photo 3
Photo: Norma Malinowski, CC BY

Same family (Nymphalidae)

MonarchMonarchDanaus plexippusRed AdmiralRed AdmiralVanessa atalantaPainted LadyPainted LadyVanessa carduiGulf FritillaryGulf FritillaryDione vanillaeSpeckled WoodSpeckled WoodPararge aegeriaEuropean Peacock ButterflyEuropean Peacock ButterflyAglais io

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliconius_doris

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

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