Resumo

CASTRO MORALES, Olivier; GADEA RIVAS, Arnoldo  e  MADRIGAL VALVERDE, Mónica. Body size of four species of butterflies of the genus Heliconius (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) produced in Costa Rica Caribbean butterfly farms. Cuadernos de Investigación UNED [online]. 2019, vol.11, n.3, pp.378-387. ISSN 1659-4266.  http://dx.doi.org/10.22458/urj.v11i3.2699.

“Body size of four species of butterflies of the genus Heliconius (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) produced in Costa Rica Caribbean butterfly farms”. Introduction: The production of butterflies is an important socioeconomic activity and has become an option to generate income for rural microenterprises. Objective: To see how farming affects the body size of Heliconius butteflies in Costa Rican farms. Methods: We measured adults and pupae of Heliconius cydno, H. erato, H. hecale and H. melpomene in 10 butterfly farms, in the Huetar Atlantic Region of Costa Rica. Results: In some farms, adult Heliconius erato and H. hecale are heavier (p≤0,05), and have a longer abdomen and larger forewings. The weight did not differ among farms, and the sex ratio is close to 1:1. Conclusion: All farms sampled produce butterflies of fit for commercialization.

Palavras-chave : Lepidoptera; biometrics; Heliconius; butterfly farms; breeding of butterflies.

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