---
title: "Red Postman"
description: "Heliconius erato — Owady i pająki. Heliconius erato, or the red postman, is one of about 40 neotropical species of butterfly belonging to the genus Heliconius."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pl/animal/red-postman
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Red Postman

> Heliconius erato — Owady i pająki. Heliconius erato, or the red postman, is one of about 40 neotropical species of butterfly belonging to the genus Heliconius.

- Scientific name: *Heliconius erato*
- Category: `insects` (Owady i pająki)
- Habitats: `forest` (Las), `jungle` (Dżungla)
- iNaturalist observations: 16732
- Wikidata: [Q2427227](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2427227)
- iNaturalist taxon: [81744](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/81744)

## Names

- en: Red Postman
- de: Kleiner Kurier
- es: Mariposa de alas largas de bandas carmesí

## Countries with the most observations

BR (4057), MX (2715), CR (1586), CO (1161), PA (941), AR (753), EC (539), HN (299), GF (285), TT (250), PE (229), BO (222)

## Summary

Heliconius erato, or the red postman, is one of about 40 neotropical species of butterfly belonging to the genus Heliconius. It is also commonly known as the small postman, the red passion flower butterfly, or the crimson-patched longwing. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
H. erato exhibits Müllerian mimicry with other Heliconius butterflies such as Heliconius melpomene in order to warn common predators against attacking, which contributes to its surprising longevity. It also has a unique mating ritual involving the transfer of anti-aphrodisiacs from males to females. Its…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliconius_erato

## Photo

![Red Postman](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/red-postman/medium.jpg)

Photo: Andra Waagmeester · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/131020990

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/red-postman?lang=pl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).