FIGURE 15 in Alternative facts: a reconsideration of putatively natural interspecific hybrid specimens in the genus Heliconius (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

FIGURE 15. Hybrid #12 (dorsal; ventral). Guyane: St. Laurent. Holotype of Heliconius seraphini Talbot, 1932, from the famous hybrid zone in St. Laurent, French Guiana, collected prior to 1932 (specimen in NHMUK). Interpreted by Ackery and Smiles (1976) as H. melpomene thelxiope (Hübner, [1806]) x H. numata numata, and interpreted by Mallet et al. (2007) to be an F1 hybrid between H. hecale vetustus (Fig. 16) and H. melpomene interspecific hybrid (H. melpomene melpomene (Fig. 6) x H. melpomene thelxiopeia (Fig. 17). The locality data suggest that Mallet et al.'s parental forms should be preferred. Other than the (probably postmortem) discoloration of the yellow band, the forewing is quite hecale-like. The pointed distal ends of the FW yellow rays and the with of the HW. orange rays are reminiscent of H. melpomene thelxiopeia. However, the concave proximal edges of the (formerly) yellow FW spots and the presence of rays and submarginal white spots on HWV are more reminiscent of H. elevatus (the locally sympatric race is H. elevatus bari, Fig. 18) than of H. melpomene thelxiopeia. Given the equivocal phenotype, it is more parsimonious to infer a H. hecale x H. elevatus cross on phylogenetic grounds.