The Mexican Longwing

The Mexican Longwing, Mexican Heliconian, or Mountain Longwing [Heliconius hortense] is a Heliconiid butterfly.The basic color of the uppersides of the wings is black, with a vertical white band on the forewings and an horizontal red band on the hindwings. The undersides are dark brown, with a white band on the forewings and a few red spots at the base of the hindwings. The adults feed on pollens and live up to 6 months. Females usually lay yellow eggs singly on shoots of various host plants, passion flower, of which caterpillars primarily feed.