Heliconiini phenotypic classification

Summary

This repository contains the phenotypic classification for heliconiine butterfly subspecies applied for the analyses presented in this research paper:

 “Pérochon et al., 2025 - Müllerian mimicry in Neotropical butterflies: One mimicry ring to bring them all, and in the jungle bind them” 

Associated archives

Occurrences data associated with this classification can be found in this archive: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10906853.

Distribution maps built upon the occurrence data and phenotypic classification are available in an other associated archive: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10903661.

Scripts to reproduce these maps are available on Github at https://github.com/EddiePerochon/Heliconiini_Diversity.

Contents

This repository contains two folders and three files:

Type_pictures: 38 pictures of butterfly type taxa used as reference for each phenotypic group. Groups are separated between patterns found only in Heliconiini (types are Heliconiini), and patterns shared with Ithomiini (types are Ithomiini). Credit photos: Chris Jiggins.

Groups_shared_with_Ithomiini: 11 pictures of Heliconiini butterfly illustrating each phenotypic group shared with Ithomiini butterflies. Credits: Chris Jiggins. Type taxa of these pheontypic groups are ithomiine butterflies found in the Type_pictures folder and in the dedicated archive https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5497876.

Heliconiini_phenotypic_classification.xlsx: Phenotypic classification of the 436 subspecies of Heliconiini butterflies + List of type taxa identifying each pattern for both levels used in analyses: split (Main test) and lump (Sensitivity analyses).

Plate_Phenotypic_groups_Heliconiini.pdf: Plate with illustration of all 38 phenotypic groups found in Heliconiini. Credit photos: Chris Jiggins.

Plate_Phenotypic_groups_Ithomiini.pdf: Plate with illustration of all 44 phenotypic groups found in Ithomiini. Credit photos: Chris Jiggins.

Contact

For any questions, contact the corresponding author: Maël Doré

How to cite

> Pérochon, E., Rosser, N., Kozak, K., McMillan, W.O., Huertas, B., Mallet, J., Ready J., Willmott, K., Elias, M. & Doré, M. (2025). Müllerian mimicry in Neotropical butterflies: One mimicry ring to bring them all, and in the jungle bind them. In prep. https://doi.org/10.1111/000000